22 Columbine Tapes Released

July 6 -- Authorities have released 22 audio tapes of emergency 911 calls from frantic students, teachers and other witnesses during the Columbine High School massacre that left 15 people dead.

The 90-minute tapes released in Littleton, Colo., have been edited and do not include the complete 26-minute call placed by teacher Patti Nielson from the library, where most of the victims were killed.

The tape of her call also records the gunmen taunting students, screams and gunshots. A judge compared this to gruesome crime scene photographs and said it should not be released in its entirety. (Excerpts appear in a transcript. See related story.)

The portions of the tape that were made public show how teachers and students hid in terror as they heard the gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, coming closer.

“I can’t believe he’s not out of bullets; he just keeps shooting and shooting and shooting,” Nielson says in a five-minute portion of her 911 call released Wednesday.

The 40 hours of sheriff’s department phone calls paint a picture of police struggling, of dispatchers talking to frightened students and teachers inside Columbine as they tried to lead SWAT teams to the two student gunmen.

Search for Mistakes

Attorneys for survivors and families of the victims are expected to analyze the tapes closely to determine whether the sheriff’s department could have done more to curtail the carnage. The attorneys are listening for details they believe will show that authorities did not act swiftly or strongly enough.

One tape shows how 911 dispatcher told desperate students trapped inside the school to “encourage” wounded teacher Dave Sanders as he lay bleeding to death from gunshot wounds.

“Don’t let him close his eyes,” the dispatcher said.

“We’re having a hard time keeping him alert,” an adult told the dispatcher, who responded by saying help was on the way and later added: “Make sure he stays warm.”