Judge Orders Release of Columbine Victim's Autopsy

D E N V E R, Jan. 31 -- A judge ordered the release Tuesday of the autopsy report on a slain Columbine High School student whoseparents say police shot as they responded to the attack.

Jefferson County District Judge Brooke Jackson agreed to releasesummaries of the autopsy reports for the remaining victims andgunman Dylan Klebold.

The summaries would include information suchas the type of gun used and the part of the body that was injured.

But the judge refused to release those autopsies in full, citingthe desire to avoid needless emotional pain for survivors andvictims' relatives.

The reports for slain student Isaiah Shoels and gunman EricHarris were released previously.

The ruling involved Daniel Rohrbough, 15, who was killed outsideColumbine High School when Klebold and Harris stormed the buildingon April 20, 1999.

A Fatal Bullet

Brian Rohrbough, Daniel's father, has alleged his son was killedby police during a shootout with the student gunmen and that theautopsy supports the allegation. Police said Daniel was killed byKlebold.

"I think it is important for people tounderstand he was running from the gunmen who were on the hillbehind him, and he was shot and killed from the front," Rohrbough said. "The fatal bullet could not have come from Klebold and Harris. It had to come from law enforcement at the bottom of the hill."

"There is a public interest in knowing whether Daniel waskilled by 'friendly fire,' as contended by the Rohrboughs," thejudge wrote.

Jefferson County Coroner Nancy Bodelson said she plans toconsult office attorneys and inform the families before takingsteps to release the report.

Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher beforetaking their own lives at the school near Littleton, Colo.