Cafeteria Shooter

Witnesses who saw a shooter in the cafeteria

Renee Paavilainen [pp.4004-4011]    

"While people were fleeing, Paavilainen thought she saw, through a window in thee room, one of the gunmen run East by the serving line. He was short, had brown hair, and was waring a black jacket. He was not wearing a mask or hat. From Paavilainen's angle, she could not tell if the jacket was long. Paavilainen did not see anything in his hands and did not recognize him. Paavilainen thought he was firing while running." (11k, p.4005)

"As she sat in the kitchen hiding, she witnessed a lone white student running towards the inside stairs in the cafeteria about 5-7 feet away from her. The student was wearing a black jacket, unknown if it was open or zipped up, or if it had a hood, and the length of this jacket was unknown. The serving line countertop blocked a portion of her view. The student had ear length brown hair, no hat. She believed he was about 5'6" tall. She did not see this student carrying any type of a weapon, as she did not see his hands. She originally told Agent Wright that she believed the student was firing a weapon while running. Renee believed this because the pop, pop noise became louder as the student ran by them towards the steps." (11k, p.4010)

"Renee recalled that her friend, Sarah Brown, who was hiding next to her, said, "did you see that." They believed based on the noise that the student was firing a weapon." (11k, p.4011)

Lacey Smith [pp.4464-4475]

Smith describes a [REDACTED] 6'5" - 6'6" tall individual as wearing a backwards black hat with greasy hair sticking out of his backwards hat, a white t-shirt under a black trench coat, black jeans, and black leather shoes, like Reeboks. This redacted individual is Robert Perry, who did not attend Columbine, but was seen there nearly every day anyway. We know she named Perry because on page 4470, one instance of his name was left unredacted. When shown a photo lineup, Smith was asked to identify anyone she knew. She immediately pointed to Dylan Klebold and identified him correctly by name, but said that the person she saw (Perry) was not in the lineup. She stated she was "100% sure" the person she saw was Perry.

Smith's description of Perry matches the additional suspect seen in the library hall wearing a black trench coat over a white t-shirt with a backwards hat. This description also matches the suspect Gardner described having a shootout with.

Smith saw this [REDACTED] individual enter the cafeteria near Rebel Corner and she said hi to him, addressing him by name, and he said hi back to her as he kept walking into the cafeteria. Shortly after, she saw him firing into the cafeteria.

"She stated that when he stopped, facing toward the main area of the cafeteria, she heard what she described as "rapid fire" shooting coming from [REDACTED], and observed him "turning." She described him as "shooting from the hip." Smith said, "the noise was coming from him." She described the noise as "piercing" and "loud." It made her ears ring. She also heard glass breaking, but did not see where this was occurring. Smith could not tell how many shots she heard, but believed it was less than 15." (11k, p.4466)

Investigators told Smith that her recollection was "not supported by physical evidence, such as shell casings in the area where he was seen." She then concluded that he must not have been shooting. (11k, p.4469)

Several months later, investigators contacted Smith's mother to get another interview with Smith, where she completely recanted her initial story. It seems she was either threatened or pressured into recanting.

Lacey Smith recants under pressure

"I brought it to Lacey's attention where she specifically told investigators that she identified Robert Perry as entering into the cafeteria via Rebel Corner, at which time she said hi to Perry. As Perry passed her and was near the commons area of the cafeteria, she then explained that Perry pulled a weapon out from under his trench coat and started firing into the cafeteria. Lacey was asked if she was sure in theses statements, at which time she told me that she has a vivid imagination and is unclear on exactly what she saw occur in the cafeteria on April 20, 1999." (11k, pp.4473-4474)

"I asked Lacey if she was identifying this person as being Robert Perry, at which time she told me that she didn't know who the individual was. I asked Lacey if she was sure about that, and Lacey stated she can't even tell me if the individual was Robert Perry or if he was wearing any type of a trench coat. I explained to Lacey that there is a discrepancy in the initial report she filed with Detective Jeff Kreutzer, where she specifically tells him that she saw Robert Perry walk into the cafeteria wearing a trench coat and in fact, she said hi to the individual. Lacey told me that she doesn't recall exactly what she said to the person, but she thinks she did say hi, greeting the party, but again, told me that she is not sure if this person was Robert Perry."

"I, again, referred Lacey to the report which was generated by Detective Kreutzer and asked her why she told the detective that she described seeing the individual moving from side to side and described rapid fire shooting coming from the individual, telling the detective that she believed the party had a gun concealed under his long coat. Lacey told me that, again, she has a viicd imagination and she could not positively tell me if the individual had a firearm of any sort. I asked Lacey about the gunfire coming from the area where the individual was located and she told me at this point, she doesn't know if the gunfire was coming within the cafeteria or if it was coming outside the cafeteria." (11k, p.4474)

"Lacey stated she could not identify Robert Perry as being involved in this incident, telling me that she does not even recall what the party was wearing... Again, Lacey told me that she did not see the party with any type of a weapon and could not tell me where the gunfire was coming from." (11k, p.4475)