History of the White T-Shirt Bomber
This page is part of the "HISTORY OF COLUMBINE RESEARCH" collection.
This page contains an archive of Starviego's "The White T-Shirt Bomber" research.
The White T-Shirt Bomber
There were a couple of publicized interviews of students on 4/20/99, in which students claimed to have seen three suspects. The official report, which came out several months later, claimed that these people were confused. The report claims that they saw Eric Harris both before and after he took of his trench coat, and thus thought that he was two different suspects.
Now, the southwest side of Columbine is where the shooting began, and it is a jumble of corners, angles and hills. People near the West entrance would not be able to see around to the stairs. People by or down the stairs would not be able to see the West entrance. So, only the witnesses further away would have the best perspective on the unfolding events.
What do these witnesses say?
THE WITNESSES
Chris Wisher (page 1261 in the 11,000 pages of released files)
Chris states that he was behind the cafeteria about 100 yards away, and heard what he thought were fireworks. He turned and saw two kids wearing trench coats, and one kid wearing a white T-shirt who was throwing bombs onto the school. One of the trench-coated kids shot a shotgun at him, and then other kid in a trench coat had an automatic rifle. A little later, he and his friends also saw a person with a gun hiding in the bushes in Weaver Park.
Jake Apodaca (page 653)
He states that he saw 3 suspects, simultaneously. He was at the soccer field, heard firecrackers. He turned and saw two guys carrying shotguns, wearing black trench coats, black berets, black pants, black army boots, and black T-shirts. He had seen them at school before, but could not find them in the yearbook. A 3rd guy wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, light brown hair, that he had not seen him at school before, was seen throwing bombs onto the roof. It is not stated if the 3rd suspect had a gun or not. Jake also states that he saw a gunman with a shotgun hiding in the bushes in Weaver Park.
Jonathan Cole (page 749)
He states that he had met up with Jake Apodaca and Chris Wisher outside the main West entrance. There, he noticed two tall guys in black trench coats, no hats, one had on a ski mask, and one had "puffy" hair. One had a white T-shirt under his coat, the other had a black or dark T-shirt. These 2 walked over to top of the hill and looked down toward the cafeteria. He then saw a third male, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, exit the school through the same door. This person looked over to the other two suspect, and yelled "GO!! GO!!". The two suspects pulled out guns and began shooting. Jonathan began running, looked back and saw the person in the white T-shirt throwing some bombs onto the roof, which exploded. Several days later, when students were allowed back into the school to claim their belongings, he saw the white-t-shirted bomb-thrower at the school. This person is described as being 5'10", wearing black glasses, and having collar length blondish brown hair. Jonathan was shown a photo lineup, but could not identify him as one of those suspects. Jonathan was about 73' to 75' away from the gunmen, but could not identify them.
William Arapkiles (page 660)
On 5/5/99, Billy states that he was at the soccer field, and heard firecrackers. He turned and saw 3 people near the West entrance. Two were wearing black trench coats, and carrying guns. The third was wearing a white T-shirt, and no visible gun. The person in the white T-shirt was pacing back and forth about 5' away from the two gunmen. He saw the gunmen shoot toward the ground and into the air. He saw them shoot one person near the top of the stair, and another at the bottom of the hill, then a third victim that was trying to run away across the parking lot. The shooter then shot at the witnesses on the soccer field. Billy observed actions of one shooter, which seemed to him to be a jammed gun.
Don Arnold (page 666)
Don states that he was on the soccer field, heard firecrackers, and turned toward the school. He saw a "short, pudgy" male in a white T-shirt that was throwing bombs onto the roof. He did not see this person having a gun. Don saw another male standing at the top of the hill, shooting toward the parking lot. Don had gone shooting with his father before, and knew the sounds of gunshots. He heard two different gunshot sounds -- one was a shotgun, and the other was not. This shooter then turned and shot 5 or 6 time toward the soccer field using a shotgun. He saw that this shotgun was a pump shotgun.
Pat Neville (page 1043)
On 5/6/99, gave an account much like Don Arnold's. He was by the soccer field, heard firecrackers, turned and saw two suspects. One in a black trench coat, tall, all in black, shooting people with a long gun. The other had a white T-shirt, blue jeans, no visible gun, and was throwing bombs onto the roof.
Arthur Curtis (page 765)
Arthur was also on the soccer field. He only saw 2 shooters. One was tall, with long hair, and wore a black trench, the other wore a white T-shirt. He saw the one in the black trench coat carrying a sawed-off shotgun. Arthur states that he could identify the one in the trench coat if given a picture. He saw them shoot at groups of people and at the soccer field witnesses. He reported that the one in the white T-shirt descended the stairs, fired a few shots, and went back up the stairs.
Mike Kenny (page 938)
Mike was also on the soccer field when here heard a noise like firecrackers. He looked and saw two people about 100 yards away. One was in a black trench coat and black pants and was holding a TEC-9, the other was about 10 feet behind him and was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. They appeared to be together. The one in the trench coat was shooting, but Mike couldn't tell if the one in the white T-shirt was shooting or not. The trench coat shooter shot at the players on the soccer field, who ducked and ran. Mike looked back, and saw explosions on the roof. He did not see anyone throw a bomb up there, but either of the two suspects he did see could have thrown a bomb to that location.
Jason Brehm (page 718)
On 5/5/99, Jason give the following information: Jason walked out the West main doors, and saw a figure in a black trench coat, leaning against a post outside the library North door. This person was a little shorter than 5'11", with a round face, and was not Eric or Harris. This person had a black hat turned backward, black boots, and one pants leg tucked into a boot. This person also has a large, full, black nylon bag with straps at his feet. Jason walked to the soccer field, heard firecrackers, and turned around. He turned, and saw the guy in the trench coat still there, with smoke rising beside him. He said this lone gunman walked down and back up the stair, shooting, then threw some bombs onto the roof, then ran back down the stairs and shot a different, louder gun, which Jason thinks was a shotgun. He thinks that was when Lance Kirkland was shot in the face. As Jason was running away, he saw a figure in a white T-shirt walking calmly from the parking lot towards the shooter.
J-u-s-t-i-n Woods (page 1268)
J-u-s-t-i-n was on the soccer field, and states that he was about 50 feet away, and saw two guys come out of the West entrance of the school. He identifies one shooter as Dylan, describes him as wearing a trench coat, a black hat, and no mask, carrying a handgun with a banana clip. He says that the other suspect wore a white shirt, black pants, boots, not hat, no mask, and more clean-cut that the other. This suspect had a shotgun, leaned against the fence and shot at people. Klebold was shooting at @#%$ and the other people on the soccer field as they ran away. He heard explosions, and saw smoke on the roof of the school.
Bryan Stepp (page 1179)
On 4/30/99, Bryan stated that he was playing soccer, and saw two guys near the West main entrance. One was wearing all black, black cargo pants, black trench coat, and a hat. The other suspect was wearing a black trench coat and a white shirt, and a hat. He saw the first suspect bend down and light fireworks or pipe bombs. When he stood up, Bryan could see he held a gun with a banana clip. He said that someone walked out of the West entrance door, and this suspect shot at this person, who then fell down. Bryan said that this suspect shot at students down the hill from him, and they all ran away except one, then the shooter shot at the student in the soccer field, who fled. When Bryan looked again, he heard explosions and saw smoke above the roof of the school. He also saw the banana-clip shooter shoot out the windows in the double doors of the West main entrance, then both shooters walked down the stairs toward the cafeteria, where they shot out a window.
Evan Vitale (page 1243)
On 4/20/99, Evan stated that he was in the Sr. parking lot, in a car that was about to leave school. He heard a "pop pop pop" and looked, and saw a kid on the top of the hill, shooting a rifle, about 30 shots. This gunman was wearing a white T-shirt, a trench coat, black pants, had dark hair and dark skin. He saw another individual in a dark trench coat, a black ball cap worn backwards, and long, blond hair, who was running up and down the stairs outside the West side of the cafeteria. As the car began pulling out, Evan noticed a third suspect. This person was stand by the wall next to the West side of the cafeteria. This suspect was holding a pump shotgun, and wore a white shirt and black pants. He was very sure this was not Dylan. Evan did not believe it possible for this suspect to be the same as the shooter on the hill, as it seemed that this would have required this person to move too far too fast.
Trent Karnes (page 911)
Trent was the driver of the car Evan Vitale was riding in. He was in the parking lot when he heard what he thought was someone roofing. It was 6 or 7 rapid gunshots. He turned and saw a person at the top of the outside stairs, holding a rifle, leaning on a fence, shooting down the hill at people. He was wearing a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a thin black vest. Trent saw another person, about 6'2" or 6'3" tall, in a black trench coat, black pants, medium brown shoulder length hair, a black leather hat, and sunglasses. He saw this person running up and down the stairs, apparently looking at the victims between groups of shots by the first person. Trent estimated the distance at between 100 and 200 yards. He also mentions that there was a kid wearing a white T-shirt and faded blue jean shorts, standing, watching and smiling. He thinks this kid was not part of it, only that he thought it was a joke, as apparently did the other people he saw smiling as they ran.
Mindy Pollock (page 1093)
On 4/26/99, she gave this information to the FBI: She was about to get into Trent's car with Evan, where she heard firecrackers. She looked, and saw a man running up and down the stairs, and another standing at the top of the stairs shooting people. She thought is a skit. She described the running man as wearing black pants, black shirt, a black hat backwards, a black trench coat, and carrying a silver handgun, which she did not see him shoot. She described the shooter as wearing black pants, a white shirt, black suspenders, a red hat backwards, and a huge black gun.
THE CONCLUSIONS
Summary table deleted here. I'll edit in a reformatted version later.
We know Harris was wearing a white T-shirt, but did the investigators come to the correct conclusion that every sighting of a suspect in a white T-shirt was Harris? Of the 15 sightings listed above, only 7 are consistent with Harris. Even with these 7, 3 are clearly inconsistent with the official timeline. (See detailed analysis of the witnesses' accounts below.) Put another way: of the 14 people that witnessed these events, only 4 gave statements consistent with the description and activities of Eric Harris, as seen in the Sheriff's Report.
Most telling however, is that no less than 4 witnesses saw 3 suspects AT THE SAME TIME. These 4 witnesses were Chris Wisher, Jake Apodaca, Jonathan Cole, and William Arapkiles. This is very, very strong corroboration - corroboration that was either overlooked or ignored. Two others had strong evidence of a third suspect. These two were Don Arnold and Evan Vitale.
It is certainly reasonable to assume that not every witness will see every suspect. So, for the sake of argument, lets suppose that there was a third, T-shirt wearing bomb thrower, and see how well the witnesses' statements support this. Please note we will not be counting the failure to notice a suspect as an anomaly. This could easily be accounted for by a bad angle, or by the witness focusing on the more immediate threat rather than surveying the scene carefully.
Since we know that Harris wore a white shirt as well, how can we tell the two apart? Well, Harris wore black pants, had a gun, and spent all of his time outside the school at the top of the hill, shooting people (according to the official report). The possible 3rd suspect, as reported by the 4 witnesses who saw 3 suspects at once, wore blue jeans, had no gun, and threw bombs onto the roof.
Do any of the other witnesses report a shooter that more closely matches our hypothetical bomber? Lets examine each:
Don Arnold: The description of the trench-coated shooter with a pump shotgun, shooting from the top of the hill, much more closely fits Harris that Klebold. Since the suspect in the white T-shirt does not match Klebold at all, he must be a 3rd suspect. Don hears two distinct weapons, but the suspect in the white T-shirt did not have a gun, which also strongly indicates a 3rd suspect.
Pat Neville: The description of the trench-coated shooter much more closely fits Harris that Klebold. Which means the suspect in the white T-shirt must be a 3rd suspect.
Arthur Curtis: The description of this suspect in a white T-shirt fits Harris very well.
Mike Kenny: This report has little information, but Mike did notice the explosion, and since the suspect in the white T-shirt was wearing blue jeans and had no visible gun, it does give more support to the white T bomber theory.
Jason Brehm: This muddled account is mostly likely a combination of Harris and Klebold.
J-u-s-t-i-n Woods: A sighting of Harris without a gun seems most likely. Who threw the bombs is unclear.
Bryan Stepp: Given the sparse details, it is most likely Harris
Evan Vitale: The 3rd suspect could possibly have been Harris. Even if it was not, this suspect is not the white T-shirt bomber as described above.
Trent Karnes: The shooting suspect in a white T-shirt is consistent with Harris. The other person mentioned seems most likely to be uninvolved
Mindy Pollock: This suspect also is consistent with Harris.
So, let's try these groupings:
Arthur Curtis, Jason Brehm, J-u-s-t-i-n Woods, Bryan Stepp, Trent Karnes, Mindy Pollock, and Evan Vitale do not report seeing this white T-shirt bomber. The person in a white T-shirt that they do see conforms well to Harris's description. If we assume that the official timeline is erroneous in not having Harris go down the stairs, then they are very consistent.
Don Arnold, Pat Neville, and Mike Kenny saw a suspect that very strongly supports the account of the bomber seen by Chris Wisher, Jake Apodaca, Jonathan Cole, and William Arapkiles.
SUMMARY:
There was a third accomplice, the White T-shirt Bomber.
Switching to this theory instead of a two-shooter theory, the number of anomalous testimonies falls from 11 to 4. (Evan, Jason, Trent and Mindy all reported a shooter that may not have been Eric or Dylan).
Of the 14 witnesses, four witnesses saw him simultaneously with Eric and Dylan, and 3 other witnesses saw him with one of the two shooters.
Put in percents:
No white T-shirt bomber: Anomalous reports: 73%
With white T-shirt bomber: Anomalous reports: 28%
If we factor out the anomalies that do not directly relate to the white T-shirt bomber, we have:
No white T-shirt bomber: Anomalous reports: 50%
With white T-shirt bomber: Anomalous reports: 0% None. Zip.
Seven corroborating witnesses, four of whom saw 3 suspects simultaneously. Furthermore, none of the seven reports about the white T-shirt bomber contradict each other. And the theory much more closely aligns with the actual witnesses' reports than does the official report.
Could it be any plainer than that?
There was a third accomplice, the White T-shirt Bomber.