The San Diego Union-Tribune

September 25, 1999, Saturday

SECTION: NEWS Pg. A-3

School gunman pleads guilty; Killer drops insanity bid, avoids life term

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

BYLINE: Jeff Barnard

EUGENE, Ore. -- Kip Kinkel, the meek-looking teen-ager who killed his parents and gunned down two classmates at school, yesterday abandoned an insanity defense and pleaded guilty to murder in a deal that could someday let him walk free.

The plea bargain came three days before Kinkel was to go on trial in the May 21, 1998, attack at Springfield's Thurston High School -- the third in a string of school shootings that included attacks in Pearl, Miss.; Paducah, Ky.; Jonesboro, Ark.; and Littleton, Colo.

Kinkel could get as little as 25 years, meaning he could be free by age 42. If he had been convicted as charged, he could have faced life in prison without parole. No sentencing date was set.

"My mind is clear and I am not sick," read the text of the plea agreement signed by the 17-year-old Kinkel. He sat slumped in a chair in court and never lifted his head as he read each paragraph silently and initialed it "KK. "

He pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder.

Under the agreement, he will get a total of 25 years for the murders. Prosecutors have recommended 7 1/2 years for each attempted-murder count for the 25 students he wounded and a detective he attacked with a knife. The judge will decide whether those sentences will be tacked on to the end of the 25-year sentence.

District Attorney Doug Harcleroad called the deal "the best thing for the community" and refused to comment on the possibility of a 25-year sentence. He noted that survivors of the attack will get a chance to speak before Kinkel is sentenced.

Because Kinkel was 15 at the time of the slayings, he could not have faced the death penalty.

His lawyers had hoped to spare him a life sentence by proving he was mentally disturbed. If they had succeeded, Kinkel would have been confined to a mental hospital until he was no longer deemed a danger to society.

Kinkel told investigators he had "no choice" but to kill because he had embarrassed his parents by getting expelled for having a gun in his locker. He said he thought he was a disappointment to his parents.

"I had to be 100 percent," Kinkel told a psychiatrist. "No one is perfect, though. Lots of times, life sucked. With my parents, if I didn't do the best, I was an embarrassment to my parents."

Kinkel shot his parents to death in their home. The next morning, he dressed in a trench coat, walked into the cafeteria just before classes and opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle. He squeezed off 50 rounds in 90 seconds, killing Ben Walker, 16, and Mikael Nickolauson, 17.

Several classmates tackled Kinkel as he tried to reload. Later, in a jail interview room, Kinkel lunged at a detective with a knife that had been taped to his leg and begged police to kill him.

Kinkel had managed to convince his parents' friends that he was a good kid. But classmates knew he had bragged about building bombs and torturing animals and voted him "Most Likely to Start World War III." Desperate to control his son, Kinkel's father tried counseling and Prozac, and even tried to get his son into a National Guard-run program for troubled youths.

At Thurston High yesterday, Principal Larry Bentz announced the plea bargain over the loudspeaker.

"We were all like, 'Shut up,' " said Bekah Snare, 17. "We don't want to hear about it anymore."

"I'd kind of like to know exactly why he did it," said Tony Case, who was shot in the back and leg. "We're never going to find out."

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

June 14, 1999 Monday All

SECTION: Health and Science Pg. 1

 PILLS FOR THE PAIN?

Treating troubled teens

BYLINE: DIANE LORE

Dr. Richard Kenney, a pediatrician for more than three decades, admits he's a dinosaur in some ways.

Kenney, medical director of the Scottish Rite Pediatric and Adolescents Consultants, says he's uncomfortable with the dramatic shift within the past five years of doctors treating more kids' emotional problems not with individual or family counseling, but with a prescription pad.

"It's an easy out," he said. "If you give them a pill, you don't need to talk to them."

Not that he hasn't seen amazing recoveries in children treated with anti-depressants and other pills for depression, anxiety and psychosis. But Kenney says the best care still involves a partnership of drugs and dialogue. And as taking pills gets more hype, he sees less interest in the communication component of healing, whether through therapy or old-fashioned dinner chats.

Pharmaceutical treatment for troubled teens -- like video games, school security and parenting -- is being re-evaluated since the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. One of the killers, Eric Harris, was taking Luvox, a prescription drug that eases obsessive-compulsive behavior and depression. And yet, his parents apparently were unaware he was building bombs.

In the aftermath, experts don't know whether Harris was getting appropriate treatment. But they are assessing whether the newest psychological drugs are so good that they are leading to shortcuts in mental health care. In addition, many still have lingering doubts about the wisdom of treating kids with pills whose scientific testing is done mostly on adults.

"The problem is, these (medications) are not heroin," said Stephen Fried, author of the book "Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs" (Bantam, $24.95). "They're not evil. They do miraculous things.

"But we need to find safe, solid ways to test them and administer them," said Fried, a Philadelphia investigative reporter who wrote the book after his wife had a life-altering, adverse reaction to an antibiotic. Fried interviewed hundreds of doctors and patients, including teens, about prescription drugs.

Statistics about depressed children are incomplete. Although it is widely believed that about one in three adults will experience a major depression in his or her lifetime, far less is known about depression among the young.

Community samples have put the number of clinically depressed teens between 0.4% and 8.3% of the age group, according to Nadine Kaslow, a professor in Emory University's department of psychology and behavioral sciences and the chief psychologist at Grady Health System.

But depressed teenagers often grow up to be depressed adults, with a much higher rate of suicide and suicide attempts, according to a study published recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers, following two groups of teens for more than a decade, found that those who were depressed as adolescents had more than five times the increased risk for a first suicide attempt during the time period tracked -- and a 14-fold increase of risk over their lifetime.

And such discoveries are leading to lots of sad, frustrated and angry kids getting lots of drugs. For example:

Almost three out of four family physicians and pediatricians said they had prescribed an anti-depressant to patients under 18, according to a recent survey of 600 doctors presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting. Almost 70% said they prescribed the drugs for mild to moderate childhood depression.

Of the top 10 drugs prescribed "off-label" to children, two are anti-depressants -- Prozac and Zoloft -- according to IMS America LTD, a research firm that tracks prescriptions. An off-label use means the drug is prescribed for conditions or groups of patients not originally intended by the manufacturer or the Food and Drug Administration. Prozac, which is annually prescribed almost 350,000 times to children under 16,

ranked sixth. Zoloft, prescribed almost 250,000 times annually to children under 16, ranked eighth.

The new popularity of psychopharmacological agents is tied to the development over the past two decades of a new class of anti-depressants, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

These drugs, which include Luvox and Prozac, are considered to be much safer than the older types of medications. For example, they don't have the typical side effects of sluggishness, constipation and weight gain. And it is also very difficult to overdose on them -- a key concern when physicians are dealing with depressed or suicidal patients.

"I tell my patients not to even try to overdose on Prozac," said Ken Fleishman, a psychiatrist and medical director of Laurel Heights Hospital, a mental health facility for children in Atlanta. "I tell them the only way they're going to succeed in killing themselves on Prozac is if they choked --which is not very likely."

And, in many cases, the new drugs are just as effective as the older models, meaning a lot of children could benefit from new chemistry with less risk.

"The drugs are like night and day," said Sue Smith, whose daughter has struggled with depression for years. "They're so good."

Smith's daughter, Danielle, was so violent by the age of 9 -- setting fires and hurting animals -- that doctors recommended that she leave her child in an institution.

"They said, 'Leave her here and walk away,'" said Smith, executive director of the Georgia Parent Support Network, a non-profit organization that aids families in coordinating mental health care.

But then Danielle, now 23, started taking Wellbutrin, a new type of anti-depressant, as a teen and her life changed dramatically.

She was able to come home. Her grades got better. She served on the student council. She graduated from Grady High School and went, for three years, to Piedmont College.

"This really gives our kids the chance to lead normal lives," Smith said. "It's wonderful."

But children are different from grown-ups. And perhaps their medication should reflect that, some experts say.

Children are still growing. They have immature organs and different metabolic and immune systems. And sometimes, they respond differently to medication. For example, Ritalin -- which can be used to treat narcolepsy in adults -- is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

"A child is not just half an adult," said Jan Stire of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, in the May-June issue of the FDA Consumer, the trade magazine of the Food and Drug Administration.

In the case of teenagers, researchers aren't fully sure how the anti-depressants interact with the turbulent waves of hormonal changes during puberty. And in most cases, teenagers initially seek treatment for different reasons than adults.

While adults are typically diagnosed with biologically-based depression, most teens land in a doctor's office because of other problems, such as drinking or bad behavior. Or they have endured a traumatic event that has triggered the sadness, such as a divorce between their parents or a break-up with a boyfriend or girlfriend.

In those cases, it is not appropriate that teens be given a pill and sent on their way -- even if it's easier for their doctors, insurers and relatives. "The key here is the drugs take away the symptoms, but they don't take away the problems," said Kaslow.

Doctors recognize certain medications play out differently in teens than adults. An anti-anxiety medication might help an adult hang on to a job, for example, but can cause a teen to feel less guilt and become more rebellious, Fleishman said.

But experts say they don't see the trend abating: a combination of drugs being safer, cheaper and too many families being more willing to give one member a pill than haul everyone into counseling.

"We're going to keep throwing more and more medications at them," Fried said. "Traditionally, children got a lot more therapy because people were afraid to give them drugs.

"Now, our kids, in some ways, are society's guinea pigs."

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The Plain Dealer

May 17, 1999 Monday, FINAL / ALL

SECTION: HEALTH & FITNESS; Pg. 1F

WHEN SUPERSTITION GOES TO THE EXTREME; TREATING OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

By HARLAN SPECTOR; PLAIN DEALER REPORTER

The TV is on, his two boys fill the house with activity and John Drotos sits on the couch oblivious to most of it. He's counting in his head, from one to seven. He does it over and over, varying the rhythm and modulation. The better part of an hour passes before he can shake it.

"You isolate a lot," he later says about obsessive thoughts that sometimes consume his mind.

"He turns into a zombie," says his wife, Sandy.

But it's better than it used to be. Drotos has overcome many of the ritualistic behaviors that accompanied those thoughts. In the days before they had a name for his affliction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Drotos would get hooked on a number and constantly tap it out with his fingers. As a kid, he would skip four steps at a time climbing a staircase. He couldn't ride his bike without stopping, going back 10 feet, and going forward again.

He feared something bad would happen if he altered his routines, though he knew the fear was irrational.

"You can't put your finger on why you're doing these things," says Drotos, a 35-year-old occupational therapist who lives in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. "OCD people know what they're doing is stupid. That's what makes it so hard."

Pervasive worry

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is superstition carried to the extreme. It's pervasive worry that can't be reasoned with.

Most people with the disorder perform elaborate rituals to reduce stress caused by obsessive thoughts. Many fear germs and sickness so much they scrub their hands raw. A person with OCD can spend the morning checking the stove, turning the gas on and off, repeatedly leaving the house and returning to check again.

"In some cases, it's extraordinarily debilitating. They're spending hours a day washing and checking and counting," says Jerilyn Ross, president of Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

OCD is a relative newcomer to the psychological lexicon. Fifteen years ago, little was known about it.

It is regarded today as a biological illness caused by insufficient levels of serotonin, the chemical messenger of the brain. The imbalance is thought to interfere with one's ability to assuage a worrisome thought (for instance, by checking the stove once).

"The strangest thoughts I have ever heard came from individuals with OCD and they are not delusional," says Dr. John H. Griest of the Madison (Wis.) Institute of Medicine, who spoke at a recent OCD conference in Middleburg Heights.

Researchers believe as many as one in 50 adults have a form of OCD and it often begins in childhood.

It is a disorder commonly misunderstood and easily confused with other psychological disorders.Littleton, Colo., gunman Eric Harris was said to have been under medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder, but its relation to his April attack at Columbine High School is unclear.

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"There certainly isn't any element of violence in this population," says Dr. Donald A. Malone, director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinics at the Cleveland Clinic. To the contrary, OCD sufferers tend to withdraw into routines.

Many other common compulsive behaviors, such as shopping, gambling, eating and kleptomania, are different from OCD, though they share some of the same characteristics. One key distinction is there is no element of pleasure in the compulsions of OCD people.

Same but different

OCD also differs from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which is a constant preoccupation with perfectionism and order. People with this disorder don't perform rituals and aren't bothered by their compulsions, whereas OCD generates tremendous anxiety, Malone says.

OCD was long believed to be untreatable. While it is rarely cured, doctors say it is best controlled with a combination of behavior therapy and anti-depression medications, such as Prozac and Luvox, which increase the concentrations of serotonin.

Using a PET scan, which measures activity of different parts of the brain, scientists can now see how the therapies change hyperactive areas of the brain, says Malone.

"If you treat these people, their symptoms go away. You can also normalize the PET scan" he says. "You actually change the way the brain functions biochemically."

But behavioral therapy, which involves exposure to the source of anxiety, can be excruciating. It is not widely available for OCD and many therapists are unwilling to make patients so uncomfortable, says Griest.

He and others believe that avoiding the trigger of discomfort makes the anxiety worse. So a patient with an irrational fear of catching the AIDS virus from a toilet seat may be asked repeatedly to lift a toilet seat and refrain from washing his hands.

Family contributes

Family members are seen as an integral part of the solution. Relatives unwittingly tend to make the problem worse by accommodating and reassuring those with OCD.

In some families, members are so unwilling to rock the boat that they agree to take off their clothes and scrub themselves down before entering the home, says Dr. Herbert L. Gravitz, a Santa Barbara, Calif., clinical psychologist and author of "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, New Help for the Family" (Healing Visions Press, 1998).

Gravitz counsels family members to reinforce their love for the sufferer but clearly communicate how the behavior is affecting them and establish boundaries. They should create a concrete plan with the OCD sufferer on how they will respond to an OCD attack, and should praise each accomplishment.

Like other psychological illnesses, OCD creates enormous strain in the family, says Gravitz.

"To me, OCD is both a bully and an octopus," Gravitz says explaining how the problem forces itself into family life and pulls everyone in. "It's a very entangling illness and family members do all the wrong things for the right reasons."

John Drotos was good at hiding his illness - it was only four years ago he put a name to it. In earlier years of their marriage, Sandy Drotos didn't understand his behavior and they didn't discuss it much. But she was deeply troubled that he would spend endless hours, even days, at a distance, absorbed in minutae of a small home project or paperwork, or that he wouldn't hold their first son, J.J., who is now 8, because of an overwhelming fear he would hurt him.

Stress on family

"It's put a very big stress on our marriage and our family," Sandy says.

"There's a hedonistic flavor of OCD," John says. "Obsessive thoughts and the behavior take precedence over other things. You're just focused on yourself."

Now it's all on the table, he says. He is working on his marriage and has improved with medication and a new career as an occupational therapist, which he says has helped him focus on others instead of his own anxieties. But during stressful times, he tends to regress, which is common with OCD sufferers.

Nobody knows for sure what causes OCD. But researchers believe there is a genetic link. If a parent has it, the likelihood a child will be affected is 2 percent to 8 percent, according to the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation. Also, a family history of tic or anxiety disorders appears to increase risk a child will develop OCD.

Scientists also believe strep throat might trigger some childhood cases of OCD. Research at the National Institute of Mental Health has shown antibodies that are supposed to attack streptococcal germs can mistakenly attack certain parts of the brain that are involved in OCD.

While this progression is rare among the 5 percent to 20 percent of school-age children who have strep at any given time, studies now are focused on who is most vulnerable.

More research needed

Gravitz thinks more research will better distinguish different types of OCD and lead to improved treatment. Behavioral therapy, which he says can be "barbaric," may be replaced by simulated exposure.

"Virtual reality might be a bridge to the real thing," he says.

Drotos says there are many people who need help. Ross, of the Anxiety Disorders Association, says less than one-quarter of those with anxiety disorders get treatment.

"There are some people who can co-exist with it," Drotos says. "There's other people, if they get out of their house, they're doing good."

GRAPHIC: PHOTO (COLOR) BY: BRYNNE SHAW / PLAIN DEALER PHOTOGRAPHER; John Drotos has struggled to get his obsessive-compulsive disorder under control. His wife, Sandy, says it has been difficult on the family. Drotos first became plagued by intrusive thoughts when he was 12. "I'm learning to have a happy co-existence with it," he says.

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The Buffalo News

May 4, 1999, Tuesday, CITY EDITION

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 5A

MAN CHARGED WITH PROVIDING GUN IN MASSACRE

By TOM KENWORTHY and CHERYL W. THOMPSON; Washington Post

Jefferson County authorities Monday arrested a 22-year-old man they believe provided a 9mm handgun used by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold during their assault at Columbine High School two weeks ago that left 15 people dead.

Sheriff's Department spokesmen identified the arrested man as Mark Edward Manes, who surrendered and posted $ 15,000 bail. He will make his initial court appearance Monday. If convicted on a charge of providing a handgun to a minor -- a class-four felony -- he would face from two to six years in jail and a fine ranging from $ 2,000 to $ 500,000.

Authorities said they did not know when or under what circumstances Manes allegedly provided the TEC-DC9, a semiautomatic handgun banned under legislation enacted by Congress in 1994. Nor did they know whether it was provided to Harris or Klebold, both of whom died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds after their killing spree.

Police said they do not know if Manes knew what the gun would be used for, but an attorney for Manes said his client knew nothing of the impending massacre.

"He was horrified when it happened," attorney Robert Ransome said. "I would like to say he has followed the path of integrity from the beginning."

The two gunmen, both seniors, also carried two shotguns and a 9mm rifle that were provided by an 18-year-old senior at Columbine who was Klebold's date to the school's senior prom. Twelve other students and a teacher died in the April 20 attack.

Also Monday, Jefferson County Coroner Nancy Bodelson said that additional toxicology tests on Harris' body showed that he had a "middle therapeutic range" of an anti-depressant drug in his system. Harris was rejected as an applicant to the Marine Corps for failing to disclose that he was using the drug, known as Luvox, which is used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescents. The finding, said Bodelson in a written statement, "does not change the cause and manner of death."

Manes, according to neighbors in the Columbine Hills subdivision of Littleton, lives with his parents, Michael and Diann, who did not answer the door of their mint green frame and red brick home. Neighbors described the young man as about 6 feet 4 inches tall and wearing a ponytail, and said he frequently associated with a group of youths who wear black clothing.

Lisa Hoeft, who lives on the same street, said the youths often walked up and down her block, and although they did not misbehave, "it makes me kind of nervous."

Manes has a police record that includes three arrests for under-age possession of alcohol, two in Jefferson County and one in Douglas County, and several traffic offenses. His contact with Harris and Klebold, police say, came through an employee of a local pizza parlor where the two suspects worked. The handgun was traced to Manes by agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Steve Davis, chief spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, said Monday no other arrests are imminent in the widespread investigation of the shooting rampage.

"Our people are definitely leaning toward the good possibility that Harris and Klebold were the only people in the school that day," Davis said.

Davis said that Manes could face more serious charges if police discover he knew of Harris' and Klebold's intent at the time he provided the pistol.

GRAPHIC: Mark Manes is a suspect in the sale of a gun used in the school massacre.

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The Washington Post

May 04, 1999, Tuesday, Final Edition

SECTION: HEALTH; Pg. Z07

Are Psychiatric Drugs Safe for Children?

By Marc Kaufman, Washington Post Staff Writer

With millions of American youngsters now taking psychiatric drugs that were designed for adults, mental health researchers have stepped up their investigation into whether these medications are safe and effective for children.

Their findings so far offer some limited comfort to parents: A few of these drugs have been proven safe and useful, while others hold promise. And anecdotally, physicians report success in some patients. But because many psychiatric medications have not been tested in children, health officials caution that they need to be prescribed with increased care.

"There are significant gaps in what we know about the effects of these drugs on children," said Peter S. Jensen, a child and adolescent researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). "Especially in the area of depression, there is reason to be cautious about how these medications are being prescribed to children."

Nonetheless, he said, there could be "terribly unfortunate consequences if doctors stop prescribing. These medications might be safe and might be effective for children. We just don't really know."

Jensen led a team of researchers to examine the use of drugs like Prozac, Ritalin and lithium in children, and six articles on their findings were published in this month's journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition to analyzing the effects of selected drugs on children, the team also made some estimates of how widespread the use of these medications has become.

Overall, they found, 1.5 percent of all doctor visits by children in 1995 led to the writing of a prescription for a "psychotropic" drug--a medication that affects the mind.

Based on statistics from a 1995 pharmaceutical marketing database, the NIMH team found that stimulants, such as Ritalin, for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were the most commonly prescribed for children and adolescents, with almost 6 million prescriptions and refills annually. Most of these drugs have been tested in children and shown to be effective.

The second largest group of psychiatric drugs for those under 18 were antidepressants, specifically those known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac and Zoloft. Although almost 1.1 million pediatric prescriptions for SSRIs were written in 1995, few of these drugs have been tested for children.

While researchers have been concerned about the effects of psychotropic drugs on children for some time, the issue took on a new urgency last month when it was disclosed that one of the teenage attackers in the school shootings in Littleton, Colo., had at one time been taking the SSRI drug Luvox. The details of why he was prescribed the drug and for how long have not been included in news reports, and mental health officials warned against speculating that the drug may have been linked to the student's behavior.

As American Psychiatric Association President Rodrigo Munoz said: "Despite a decade of research, there is little valid evidence to prove a causal relationship between the use of antidepressant medications and destructive behavior." A greater toll of suffering on patients and their families is caused by "undiagnosed and untreated mental illness," he said.

Though millions of pediatric prescriptions have been written for SSRIs, none of the drugs has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat childhood depression. Such uses are consequently all "off label"--meaning that the usage is not specifically recommended by the drug's manufacturer and is dispensed without any legal liability to the maker. Many drugs have "off label" uses; once a drug has been

approved by the FDA, physicians can prescribe it to patients as they see fit.

The one substantial clinical trial of SSRI use in children involved a group aged 8 to 18 suffering from major depressive disorder. The children given Prozac for five weeks did significantly better than those given a placebo.

There is, however, some evidence that SSRIs and other antidepressants may cause mania in a small minority of children. Experts say these disorders do not typically produce aggression or violence. Nonetheless, another article in this month's journal warned that "until more sensitive

studies of medication side effects occur, clinicians should be aware of a possible worsening of behavioral problems in children and adolescents

treated with antidepressants."

Another concern is that many primary care physicians and pediatricians who are prescribing SSRIs to children have not been adequately trained to treat mental problems in this age group. According to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina, 72 percent of almost 600 family doctors and pediatricians who answered a survey said they had prescribed SSRIs to patients younger than 18. Yet only 8 percent said they had received adequate training in managing childhood depression, and only 16 percent reported feeling "comfortable" with treating depressed children.

Jerry L. Rushton, a pediatrician and author of the study, said that while some children are certainly benefiting from the treatments, many professionals fear that the medications "will supplant or replace" other useful therapies such as counseling, family interventions and behavior therapies. "Primary care physicians should work with psychiatrists and include psychotherapy or counseling with their management treatments," Rushton said.

Yet Donald Cohen, director of the Yale Child Study Center, pointed out that cost constraints imposed by managed care are squeezing the more expensive "talk therapies" out of mental health. "Given the choice between doing nothing for a depressed young patient and prescribing an SSRI, family physicians and pediatricians are writing that prescription," he said. "It might be appropriate, but it also might not be. . . . It's a lot like a social worker prescribing antibiotics to a child with a medical problem."

With all indications pointing to an increase in the use of drugs like Prozac, Luvox and Ritalin for children, Jensen of NIMH said the FDA has proposed regulations mandating pediatric studies for all new psychiatric drugs.

He also said that the National Institutes of Health has implemented new guidelines that presume the inclusion of children in all clinical trials where it is medically useful and ethically appropriate. The NIMH has established research networks in seven universities, including Johns Hopkins University, to focus on the effects and safety of psychotropic drugs in children.

"We don't want to alarm people, but parents need and deserve to know the effects of psychotropic drugs on their children," Jensen said.

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The Boston Globe

April 30, 1999, Friday ,City Edition

SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A22

With call for harmony, a student is buried; Unity is theme for lone black Littleton victim

By Ellen O'Brien, Globe Staff

LITTLETON, Colo. - In a thoroughly modern tribute to a young man named for a biblical prophet, Isaiah Shoels was buried yesterday amid hymns from popular recording artists and calls for racial unity.

Reportedly singled out because he was black, Shoels was recalled as a Columbine High School senior whose football determination made up for his 5-foot, 5-inch frame.

Bishop Duane Williams urged the crowd of several thousand to put aside religious and racial differences. But the minister seemed to be addressing his remarks as much to the audience as to troubled youths like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who had a yearlong plan to kill athletes and minorities, classmates who looked and acted nothing like them.

"The way you look, the clothes you wear, the color of your skin," Williams shouted, eliciting thousands of "Amens." "That wall must come down! It's time to see Jesus!"

Yesterday's three-hour service at the Heritage Christian Center in Denver, with a Baptist choir and the black singing group Silk, contrasted with an outdoor vigil Sunday that was attended by Vice President Al Gore, and that was criticized by some religious leaders for having been as white as Rocky Mountain snow.

The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, a largely black group, has publicly complained that Sunday's event represented a narrow view of Christianity.

Shoels, the only black victim of the April 20 shootings, was remembered as a victim of a "new-age" hate crime, the face of the phenomenon of schoolyard killings.

"He left us a message," said Vicki Buckley, who heads the Colorado Governor's Bureau of Community Development. "He left us a message about new-age hate crimes that are no different from a man being dragged to his death behind the back of a pickup truck in Jasper" - a reference to the killing of James Byrd last year in Texas.

More simply, Shoels's grandfather reminded people that the color of blood is always red.

While Shoels's burial was the last for the 12 students and one teacher killed by Harris and Klebold, the mourning in Littleton was unabated.

The shrine to the shooting victims now resembles a tiny village, with canvas tents originally set up to protect mourners from snow and rain now serving as meeting spots for people who want to strum guitars, pray, or sit for hours.

While makeshift memorials have sprouted up across the country, the one that keeps growing in Littleton will be preserved by historians, who say it can provide valuable lessons.

The Clement Park memorial site next to the school inspires silence, with visitors hushing their voices as they tour nearly four acres of artwork,

passages from the Scriptures, and photo collages showing smiling children taking their first steps or waving goodbye as they leave for their first class trip abroad. Now, historians say the process that followed the Oklahoma City bombing, an effort to preserve mementoes of mourners, will begin here.

Truckloads of flowers will be discarded, but many are already being crushed into potpourri for mourning families. Beginning May 10, Bibles, stuffed animals, baseball hats, candles, and varsity letter jackets will be taken from the site and stored at a large warehouse.

"In 100 years, someone is going to look at this tragedy, and they are going to look at our mourning process," said Edith Hylton, manager of community services.

The written words and artwork, ranging from the sophisticated sketchings of artists to the simple scrawls of kindergarten students, are among the priorities.

"The pieces that got to me were the posterboards filled with pictures of Dave Sanders' players," said Hylton, referring to the girls' softball team coached by Sanders, who was slain.

"My chest just tightens up every time I look at those team pictures," Hylton said. "We're leaving a legacy that shows this community cared."

Investigators said they are focusing on how Harris and Klebold assembled a small arsenal of weapons, and yesterday confirmed that the semiautomatic handgun used in the killing was sold within the last 18 months at a Denver area gun shop.

A man who worked at a pizza shop with Harris and Klebold may have acted as a broker, putting the boys in touch with the seller, investigators said. They say the co-worker has hired a lawyer and has agreed to speak with them.

The seller of the handgun is also represented by a lawyer, and authorities said the dealer had stepped forward to negotiate the terms of an arrest and possible plea arrangement. In Colorado, it is illegal for a licensed gun dealer to sell a handgun to anyone younger than 21.

The three long guns used in the attack were purchased by Klebold's 18-year-old girlfriend, Robyn Anderson, police have said. It is not illegal for an 18-year-old like Harris to possess a hunting rifle or shotgun in the state, and police have said Anderson is not a suspect.

Jefferson County officials said yesterday that arrests do not appear imminent, but they seemed convinced that the pair had help placing explosives around the school and carrying the heavy weaponry.

Officials said a special toxicology test would be needed to confirm reports that Harris had been taking the antidepressant drug Luvox.

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The Buffalo News

April 29, 1999, Thursday, CITY EDITION

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 6A

ARREST EXPECTED IN SALE OF HANDGUN USED IN MASSACRE

BY STEVEN K. PAULSON; Associated Press

Authorities are on the verge of arresting a man who allegedly sold the semiautomatic handgun used in the Columbine High School massacre, a prosecutor said today.

"There will be an arrest in this case," Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas told NBC's "Today" show.

He said authorities are discussing the man's surrender with his attorney, adding that it would probably occur in the next two days.

He said the man would be charged with violating a law against selling handguns to minors. The sale was made before the older gunman turned 18 earlier this month.

Asked if the seller could face charges of being an accessory to murder, he said it would depend on whether he knew if the killers had planned to use the gun in the attack.

Thomas did not indicate which teen was believed to have bought the gun or how the teens knew the seller.

However, the Denver Post reported today that federal firearms agents on Tuesday visited the pizza shop where the killers worked. It quoted unidentified sources as saying a pizza delivery driver may have introduced them to the gun seller.

Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had four guns hidden under their black trench coats when they killed 13 people and wounded 23 others at the school April 20 before killing themselves. They also left more than 50 bombs at the school and in their homes.

Authorities say the three other guns -- two shotguns and a rifle -- used in the massacre were bought by Robyn Anderson, Klebold's girlfriend, shortly after she turned 18 last November. They describe her as a witness rather than a suspect in the rampage, because it is not illegal to provide a shotgun or a rifle to a minor.

"She did buy the long guns," sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis said. "Did she supply the weapons to them with some idea of what they were planning to do with them? That's still one of the major things we want to find out."

Investigators said at least one was bought at a gun show.

Ms. Anderson, who attended the prom with Klebold days before the shootings, is just one of 600-plus leads being pursued in Colorado's largest-ever criminal probe.

"One of those 600 could throw anybody back into the focus of the investigation," Davis said. "We're conducting this investigation as if there are more suspects."

Among the leads is the medical problem cited by the Marine Corps when it rejected Harris as a recruit just five days before the attack.

Harris was rejected because he had been taking the antidepressant drug Luvox, the New York Times reported today, citing a Defense Department source. Luvox is often used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents.

Investigators said they were interested in whether Harris' condition could be linked to the massacre.

"His acceptance or nonacceptance into the Marine Corps I don't think has any bearing on what happened," said Sgt. Jim Parr of the Sheriff's Department. "But if he were on medication or not on medication, that would be part of it."

The coroner's office said tests showed no drugs or alcohol in the bodies of the gunmen.

Also Wednesday, a federal official told the Associated Press that the FBI has enhanced a surveillance videotape that recorded events in the cafeteria, where several students were wounded during the rampage.

A report by a hardware store employee who said he sold Harris and Klebold material that could have been used to construct a homemade bomb was called into question Wednesday. The man claimed that the teens bought wire, nails, tape and propane tanks over a three-month period. He also said he made duplicates of school keys.

Authorities said investigators have reason to believe the claims are not credible.

Meanwhile, families continued to bury victims of the massacre as 1,000 mourners gathered in Trinity Christian Center to remember Steven Curnow, a 14-year-old who dreamed of becoming a Navy fighter pilot.

The final service was scheduled for today for Isaiah Shoels, 18, whom witnesses said the gunmen killed because he was black.

With Vice President Gore in attendance, cable network MSNBC staged a town meeting Wednesday night focusing on the shootings, and CNN planned its own tonight.

Nationwide, educators have increased security, and at least a half-dozen law enforcement agencies have arrested youngsters accused of plotting weapons attacks at school. A number of school districts have banned trench coats.

In the same school district as Columbine, a bomb threat on Wednesday forced students to evacuate Pomona High School. No explosives were found.

"The wackos are coming out of the woodwork," Parr said. "A lot of sick people think this is something to emulate."

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