County sells instructional video on school shooting
| NMU | COLORADO | Freedom of Information | Apr 27, 2000 |
County sells instructional video on school shooting
- A videotape concerning the Littleton school shooting that the sheriff would not release is now for sale by the county for $25.
Jefferson County has started to make copies of a videotape about the Littleton school shootings prepared by the Littleton Fire Department available to the public at $25 per videotape. That videotape, which does not show any of the victims, uses surveillance camera footage of the library where several of them were shot. It also includes footage taken by news helicopters above the scene on the day of the shootings and from investigators surveying the school in the days following.
The videotape, which was produced as an instructional tool, has been shown dozens of times to emergency response personnel across the country as an instructional tool to help the department and other emergency responders in future emergencies.
An attorney representing the families of the victims, including those whose suit brought about release of the videotape, told the Associated Press that the families were outraged at the decision to release the videotapes to the public. He said the decision “shows no regard whatsoever for the feelings of the victims,” according to AP.
It is unclear whether the decision to release the videotape will affect a lawsuit brought by Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone in federal court in Denver to determine whether such footage is subject to the state’s public records law and whether a videotape made by the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, is subject to federal copyright law.
(Stone v. Jefferson County)
Related stories:
- Judge orders limited release of Columbine evidence (4/19/2000)
- Court asked to determine status of Columbine videotapes (2/3/2000)
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