Chris Morris

On April 20, 1999, Christopher Richard Morris, good friend of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, was identified as a suspect in the Columbine shooting by multiple witnesses.

Morris can be seen in news footage, in handcuffs, being escorted to an interview vehicle wearing a black South Park t-shirt. Morris called the police from his friend Cory Friesen's house, to tell them who he thought the shooters were, and they decided to come to the house to pick him up for questioning. Although it's been speculated that Morris was never arrested and was merely detained, the documents show that he was arrested.

Morris was cooperative with law enforcement and allowed them to search his bedroom, take his computer, and take his clothing. Nothing of evidentiary value was observed. (10809)

On April 24, 1999, Morris called Philip Duran on behalf of law enforcement to see if he could get him to admit to selling a gun to Harris and Klebold. Duran didn't confess during the call, but did confess later. A transcript can be found in Morris' interview on page 10813.

Details about Chris Morris:

• Brother: Marc Allen Morris
• Father: Gary Morris
• Mother:
• Drove a 1985 red Dodge Lancer (10802)
• Was considered a primary member of the Trench Coat Mafia (TCM).
• His AOL name was "Grunt257" and shared an AOL account with Chuck Philips. (10807)
• He loved knives and was known to pull knives on people in fights.
• His mother worked for the Cherry Hills Police Department. (10804)
• Routinely wore a beret, chains, a black trench coat, and sunglasses
• Claims he stopped wearing his trench coat the previous school year. (10804)
• Knew Harris and Klebold had been in the Diversion Program. (10807)
• Knew Harris and Klebold blew things up around work. (10804)
• Knew Harris and Klebold went shooting at Rampart Range with bowling pins as targets. (10804)
• Saw Harris and Klebold with a pipe bomb at work. (10805)
• Saw the trip bomb Harris made that he wanted to use behind Blackjack Pizza. (10805-6)
• Knew Harris was trying to get someone to buy him a gun from a gun show. (10806)
• Knew Philip Duran furnished one of the guns used in the shooting. (10806)
• Skipped fourth hour the day of the shooting. Told Phil Duran he had been skipping that class for two weeks (10824), but told a news crew in a video interview that he had been skipping that class for a month.

Morris' story:

• Eric Harris was supposed to pick him up at 5:50 a.m. for bowling class, but never showed up and didn't call. (10802)
• At 6:00 a.m., he gave up waiting for Harris and drove himself to the bowling alley. (10802)
• The bowling lanes open at 6:30 a.m. and he likes to get there early to choose a good ball. (10802)
• He never saw Harris and Klebold at the bowling alley. (10802)
• His teammates were Nate LNU, Eddie Day, Terry Sabe (Carrie Sabey?), and Mike Paavilonian. (10803)

• After attending third period, at 10:15 a.m., (10806) he drove to Cub Foods, bought a Mountain Dew and other items, and then drove to his friend Cory Friesen's house, arriving about 10:35 a.m. (10803, 10807)
• Morris claims he and Cory played Nintendo for about 30 minutes to an hour, at which time, Cory's mother called and told him there had been a shooting at Columbine High School. (10803)
• He and Cory tried to drive to the school and were blocked, so they went to IHOP to try to connect with friends. They didn't find anyone, so they drove back to Cory's house. Morris called his girlfriend and she said she was at IHOP, so they drove back there. His girlfriend had already left, so they went to her house and found here there. She told them one of the shooters was "Dylan." They went back to Cory's house. (10803)

Testimony discrepancies

• Morris was marked absent during bowling class the morning of 4-20-99.
• Multiple witnesses saw Morris in bowling class.

Morris told two different stories regarding his whereabouts after bowling class. Note that bowling ends around 7:20 a.m.

• Version #1: After bowling, he drove directly to Clement Park just before 8 a.m., and his car overheated. (10803)
• Version #2: After bowling, he went to McDonald's and then ate his breakfast at the smoker's pit. Then, he drove to Clement park and his car overheated. After it cooled down, he drove closer to the school so he didn't have to walk so far. (10803)

What was Morris wearing on 4-20-1999?

According to witnesses, Morris showed up to bowling class wearing a white t-shirt and flannel. People thought it was odd because he usually wore all black.

By the time he was arrested, he was wearing a black South Park t-shirt.

What Morris told the 911 dispatcher

A portion of Chris Morris' 911 call contains crosstalk right at a critical moment in the conversation. A researcher enhanced this audio and was able to make out most of what he said. The following is a transcript of what can be heard on this portion of Morris' 911 call.

Chris, prior to the crosstalk: "I hang out with them and I've never heard about this."

Also Chris, prior to the crosstalk: "I heard them talk about it once before. I thought they were my friends."

Dispatcher: "Did they tell you what they were gonna do?"

Chris: "No... (unintelligible) (says a word that ends with an "S" sound) they're gonna blow up the school and that was two weeks ago, and I, I didn't think anything of it, I thought they were kiddin' around."

Morris mentions the shooters having an AK-47. This is because Phil Duran had told Morris they were all shooting an AK-47 at Rampart Range. Morris may have assumed this was the gun they bought from Duran. (10806)

Unanswered questions and oddities:

• He changed his clothes (at least his shirt and flannel) without going home, from a white t-shirt and flannel to a black South Park t-shirt.
• The Cub Foods receipt he claimed to have at Friesen's house to support his story was never recovered. (10807)
• He admitted to a reporter that two weeks before the shooting, he joked with Harris and Klebold about blowing up the school by detonating pipe bombs in the hallway.
• He admitted to joking with Eric Harris about blowing up the school's generators.
• Two weeks before the shooting, he was seen with Harris and Klebold at the bank. While Harris and Klebold cashed their paychecks, Morris withdrew all the money from his bank account.
• It's been said that Morris was adopted at age 5, but the police reports list Gary Morris as his natural father.

Interesting tidbits about how the police obtained evidence from the Morris residence:

• Chris' mother already had his computer unplugged and waiting by the door for police when they arrived at their home to perform a search.(10808)
• Morris' brother provided the police with the clothing Chris was wearing that day and told police that every bit of Chris Morris' clothing he was wearing this date was in the paper sack. (10808)

Additional tidbits

Although it has been reported that Chris Morris has a long rap sheet full of arrests beginning at age 7, it's not true. This belief came from misreading someone else's arrest records that were included in Morris' testimony.

The Chris Morris from Columbine has the middle name of "Richard," while the subject of the arrests dated 3/31/89, 8/28/89, 4/16/92, 10/23/93, and 2/22/94 has the middle name of "Andrew."