Rachel Scott

Rachel's death

Witnesses to Rachel Scott's death:

General - statements that match official story

Adam Thomas [11k, pp.1209-1219]

Summary: Thomas saw Rachel Scott and Richard sitting by the wall near the West doors, but the person he saw get shot was Ann Marie Hochhalter.

“He said he remember seeing two females and one male who were seated over near the North exterior wall of the library about 10-20 feet from the West doors, but he couldn’t provide any information as to their identity. The only thing that he could tell me was that he recognized the parties as being students at the high school and they were involved in the drama club and have participated in the school plays. I asked him if he was sure there were three individuals, he told me he believed there were three, but there could have been just two. Through the course of our investigation, we identified Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo as being in that general area.” (11k, p.1216)

"Adam described a female who he initially thought was Rachel Scott sitting on the grass area, just South of the outside stair case. He told me this female stood up and jokingly commented to Eric and Dylan, ‘Do you guys want to fight? Do you want a piece of me?’ At this point Adam sees Dylan raise some type of rifle, points it at the female who was standing South of them and fire one round. he told me the female is shot, he believes in the stomach area, and she falls to the sidewalk just South of the stair case. Adam told me an unidentified female, who he believes was with the shooting victim, runs over to her and rolls her over and then stands up and yells at Eric and Dylan, ‘You hurt her, she's bleeding.’ (11k, p.4399; El Paso, Cafeteria, p.21-345)

“At the completion of this initial interview, Adam made a comment to me stating that Eric Harris was the first person to start shooting the day of 4-20-99, and Dylan was the first person to kill. I asked him to clarify that for me. He told me that he meant that Eric was the first person to shoot, in reference to when he shot at Adam and his group of friends, and Dylan was the first to kill when he shot the female, who he believed to be Rachel Scott, who was just South of the exterior stairs.” (El Paso, Cafeteria, p.21-346)

“I proceeded to ask Adam how he was identifying the female shooting victim as being Rachel Scott. He told me that he wasn’t sure what the victim’s name was, but he had heard from a friend of his sister’s, Amber Michelle Huntington, that the only female shooting victim outside was Rachel Scott and he had come to the conclusion she was Rachel. Through the course of our investigation we have identified the female who was shot to the South of the exterior stairs as being Ann Marie Hochhalter.” (11k, p.4401; El Paso, Cafeteria, p.21-347)

Alison Brock [11k, pp.4867-4870]

“She stated they then ran up the stairs, past a boy on the sidewalk and a girl om the hill, who she recognized as Rachel Scott.” (11k, p.4869)

Chris Clark [11k, pp.741-747]

"He said he walked over to the edge of the roof on the North side of the library entrance and looked over to the ground below. He described seeing two students wearing backpacks laying on the ground near the library entrance. He said another student was laying further away from the building, Northwest of the other two that were near the entrance." (11k, p.745)

Denny Rowe [11k, pp.1113-1120]

Summary: Rowe saw a suspect shoot Castaldo and Scott while they were seated, then saw a suspect take off his trench coat.

“They all exited the cafeteria via the West door and walked up the outside stairs to the top of the hill. They then sat behind the two tall pine trees to the West of the West set of school doors.”

“He then noticed that two males with trench coats on were standing near the top of the outside stairs they just went up.”

"He then saw this male shoot two females that were sitting against the wall outside of the West doors by the West exit doors to the library. The girls immediately slumped over. He thought the two suspects were only about 10 feet away from where the girls were shot."

“He then said that the suspect who was standing next to the one who shot the girls then took off his trench coat.” (11k, p.1118)

Jennifer Tindall [11k, pp.1224-1237]

Summary: Tindall saw Rachel Scott get shot in the leg at the top of the hill.

“Tindall turned towards the school and saw a male wearing a black trench coat walking up the stairs next to the building. Tindall said she noticed another person standing on the hill. This person was shooting at people in the parking lot with a very long, black gun. […] Tindall said she saw the shooter fire and hit a girl in the leg. The girl fell to the ground and an unidentified male student tried to assist her up. The unidentified male then ran back into the school.” […] Tindall states she later learned that the girl she saw shot in the leg was Rachel Scott.” (11k, p.1225)

“Jennifer Tindall said that she believed on 04-20-99, an audition was held that day for staff members for the Rebel News Network. Jennifer Tindall said her friend, Lauren Beacham, told her that she had auditioned along with Rachel Scott for the position on the RNN at Columbine High School on 04-20-99.” (11k, p.1232)

John Cook [11k, pp.754-759]

Summary: Cook saw Rachel Scott shot as she was sitting at the top of the stairs.

“Then the party on the left handed his gun to the other party and took his coat off, dropping it to the ground next to the fence. At this time, John noticed that the party had equipment strapped to him. […] The other party, who was still wearing a trench coat, then turned around and shot a girl that was sitting nearby: Rachel Scott. The girl was sitting down and fell over.” (11k, p.757)

Kendra Curry [11k, pp.4915-4917]

“The police escorted her and her classmates out of the school. They exited through the West side of the commons and then ran down the cement stairs. She said that she saw two bodies laying on the ground near the stairs, one who she identified as Rachel Scott.” (11k, p.4916)

Michael Johnson [11k, pp.224-232]

Summary: Johnson saw a suspect shoot Castaldo and Scott while they were seated

“At approximately 11:20 am, Johnson was outside of the CHS West doors sitting on the grass slope with Adam Thomas, Denny Rowe, John Cook, and Mark Taylor. The five students were sitting on the slope and were facing South.” […] “Johnson then heard shooting and he looked East and observed one person shooting two people who were sitting outside, against the library wall near the North library door and the school West door. Johnson believes that the victim closest to him was a male. Johnson described the shooter as a white male wearing black. The shooter was using a long gun and was using both hands to shoot the weapon.” (11k, p.228-229)

“As Michael and his friends sat on the grass, Michael said he heard what he thought was gunfire coming from an area near the school. Looking to his left (East), Michael initially said he saw two people sitting near a wall East of the stairwell eating lunch. Michael described that wall being East of the stairwell that leads up from the cafeteria. Near the wall where he described the people sitting was a chain link fence. Michael said the two people were East of that fence. That is the area Michael said he thought the gunshots originated from. Just West of the chain link fence, Michael recalls seeing an unknown male wearing a “black trench coat and red beret” firing an unknown weapon at his direction. Michael said that individual was standing near the top of the stairs. Michael could not identify or describe the shooter.” (11k, pp.226-227)

Janine Roberts [11k, pp.1107-1112]

Summary: Roberts was with Patrice Doyle and saw Richard Castaldo and Rachel Scott eating lunch outside the West doors before the shooting started.

“Roberts advised investigator Eaton that she and Doyle exited the school via the upper level West doors. She advised that there are two sets of doors with an airlock in between. Roberts advised investigator Eaton that as she exited the door, she observed Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo. […] She advised that it appeared that they were having lunch together. Roberts also advised investigator Eaton that as she exited, she observed Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold standing next to the fence and grass at the top of the stairway, which leads down from the upper level to the cafeteria and Senior parking lot.” (11k, p.1108-1109)

Patrice Doyle [11k, pp.779-788]

Summary: Doyle was with Janine Roberts and saw Richard Castaldo and Rachel Scott eating lunch outside the West doors before the shooting started.

"Doyle advised investigator Eaton that she and Roberts exited the building through the upper level West entrance at approximately 1120 hours. She advised that as she and Roberts exited the door, she observed both Rachel Scott and a male sitting right outside the door eating lunch. She advised that Rachel Scott and the male were seated approximately five feet apart. […] She advised she also observed Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris standing at the top of the stairs that are outside the upper level West entrance and lead from the entrance/exit area down towards the cafeteria and Senior parking lot.”

“Doyle advised that after smiling at Harris and Klebold, she and Roberts continued past them and walked down the stairs into the parking lot area. Doyle advised investigator Eaton that as she and Roberts got into the Senior parking lot area of the school, she began to hear numerous popping sounds.” (11k, p.781-782)

Wayne Depew, First Responder, Denver PD [11k, pp.7989-7999]

“I took the inner perimeter at the Northwest corner of the building with tech. O’Neill. There were two dead girls lying next to the West door.” (11k, p.7990-7991)

Saw Rachel at the top of the stairs

Alicia Olejniczak [11k, pp.5064-5071]

“They went up the stairs, past the two guys that were dead.” (11k, p.5068)

Kathy Carlstadt

There was a dead girl at the top of the staircase. She had a pony tail and still had her backpack on.” (Source needed)

Matt Depew [El Paso, Case Core, p.1-176]

"I asked Mr. DePew what his exact location was when he first heard gunshots or explosions. Mr. DePew said he was at a table in the cafeteria in the Northwest portion. I asked him if there was anybody with him. Mr. DePew told me Dan Palmeter. […] I asked him if he saw anybody outside get shot. He told me yes, he saw Daniel Rohrbough and a girl near the top of the hill get shot. […] He said Daniel was the first one shot." (El Paso, Case Core, p.1-176)

Tom O'Neil, SWAT [11k, pp.8438-8441]

“Officer O’Neil saw two people that appeared to be “down” (injured and lying on the ground) outside the school. […] Officer O’Neil and Bloodworth approached from the South side near a fenced in are containing what officer O’Neil thought were generators. […] While waiting for the rescue team to arrive, officer O’Neil observed movement in one of the students’ arms (blonde student) the other student appeared to be brunette. Both victims appeared to be females. One of the students was approximately 5’ from the door that the suspect’s rifle was seen behind.” (11k, pp.8439-8440)

Evidence possibly linked to Rachel at the top of the stairs

A piece of scalp [El Paso, FBI Reports, p.20-231]

Item #2263 “Piece of scalp” found “outside library door.” (El Paso, FBI Reports, p.20-231)

Saw Rachel on the grass

Michael Naifeh [11k, pp.3877-3883]

"I asked Mr. Naifeh, ‘Did you see anyone outside get shot? If yes, who and do you know who shot that particular individual?’ Mr. Naifeh said he saw Rachel Scott get shot and it is unknown who shot her. Mr. Naifeh said Harris was facing Rachel, and was closer to her than Dylan.” (El Paso, Case Core, p.1-164)

“About 30 yds away there was a girl lying on a grass hill with blood on her leg. There was a guy right next to her holding her. […] The girl had blood on her torso.” (11k, pp.3878-3879)

Seth Dubois [11k, pp.2907-2915]

Summary: saw Rachel Scott after she was shot in the leg, saw someone (possibly Richard Castaldo) trying to help her.

“I was eating lunch in the cafeteria at approx. 11:20 a.m. I heard people screaming and gunshots about 3 shots. I stood up and looked out the window. I saw a girl outside on the hill near the stairway. She was bleeding from her pant leg. A guy grabbed her and was trying to pull her away from the stairway.” (11k, p.2907)

Note: This couldn’t have been Ann Marie Hochhalter because he stated, “Then I glanced to my left and saw another girl about 20’ away from the stairs. She was bleeding from her shirt. Another guy was behind her trying to pull her away from the stairs.” This was Hochhalter. (11k, p.2908)

“Seth Dubois was re-interviewed n 5-6-99 as a result of information from an interview w/Katherine Carlston, who reported to inv. P.J. Doyle that Seth told Katherine that Robert Perry was seen shooting a girl in the back while leaving the library. […] Seth explained that his older sister had a bunch of friends over following the shooting. From conversation, the name of [REDACTED] was brought up. Seth does not know [REDACTED]. A photo of Perry was viewed by Seth as well as an old photo of Dylan Klebold. At that time, he thought the person he saw with the gun outside the window might have been [REDACTED]. Then, when the Senior class photo appeared in the newspaper, he recognized Dylan Klebold, seated at the top left of the student body as the individual he saw outside the cafeteria (11k, pp.6592-6593; El Paso, Cafeteria, p.21-123)

Saw Rachel at the bottom of the stairs by the cafeteria

Adam Thomas [11k, pp.1209-1219]

Thomas saw Rachel by the West doors and Ann Marie Hochhalter by the cafeteria. See the section titled "General - statements that match official story" for Thomas' interview.

Witnesses who interacted with Rachel's body

Lacey Hohn [11k, pp.3341-3346]

Summary: Hohn misidentified Hochhalter as Scott.

“Lacey advised that she left the cafeteria by way of the lower level of the auditorium. Lacey said she believed the person who was shot outside the cafeteria was Rachel Scott.” (11k, p.3343)

Jessica Rosecrans [11k, pp.4237-4240]

“Margetts said her daughter, who goes to Columbine H.S., was at school when the shooting started. Ms. Margetts said her daughter was standing next to her friend R. Scott when Scott was shot.” (11k, p.4238)

“Rosecrans was not near Rachel Scott when she was shot and does not know any specifics of her shooting.” (11k, p.4240)