Sanders v. Bd. of Cty. Com'Rs/Jefferson Cty., Co
| Decision Date | 27 November 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.00-B-791.,CIV.00-B-791. |
| Citation | 192 F.Supp.2d 1094 |
| Parties | Angela SANDERS, Personal Representative of William David Sanders, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the COUNTY OF JEFFERSON, COLORADO, the Sheriff's Department of the County of Jefferson, Colorado, Sheriff John C. Stone, Individually and in his Official Capacity, Terry Manwaring, Individually, John Kiekbusch, Individually, David Walcher, Individually, John Dunaway, Individually, John Does (Nos.1-10), Jane Does (Nos.1-10), Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
A. Bruce Jones, Holland & Hart, LLP, Denver, CO, for Angela Sanders.
J. Andrew Nathan, Andrew J. Fisher, Bernard Roland Woessner, Nathan, Bremer, Dumm & Myers, PC, Denver, CO, Charles L. Casteel, Jeffrey Ralph Pilkington, Daniela Gonzales, Davis, Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO, William A. Tuthill, III, Lily Wallman Oeffler, County Attorney's Office, Golden, CO, Alan Kaminsky, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, New York, NY, for Jefferson County, Bd. of County Com'rs, Jefferson County Sheriff's Dept., John C. Stone.
J. Andrew Nathan, Andrew J. Fisher, Bernard Roland Woessner, Nathan, Bremer, Dumm & Myers, PC, Denver, CO, Charles L. Casteel, Daniela Gonzales, Davis, Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO, William A. Tuthill, III, Lily Wallman Oeffler, County Attorney's Office, Golden, CO, Alan Kaminsky, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, New York, NY, for John C. Stone, John Kiekbusch, David Walcher, John Dunaway, John Does (Nos. 1-10), Jane Does (Nos. 1-10).
J. Andrew Nathan, Andrew J. Fisher, Bernard Roland Woessner, Nathan, Bremer, Dumm & Myers, PC, Denver, CO, Charles L. Casteel, Jeffrey Ralph Pilkington, William A. Tuthill, III, Lily Wallman Oeffler, County Attorney's Office, Golden, CO, Alan Kaminsky, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, New York, NY, for Terry Manwaring.
Defendants The Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jefferson, Colorado (the Board), The Sheriff's Department of the County of Jefferson, Colorado (Sheriff's Department), Sheriff John C. Stone (Sheriff Stone), Terry Manwaring, (Lt. Manwaring), John Kiekbusch (Lt. Kiekbusch), David Walcher, (Lt. Walcher), John Dunaway, (Undersheriff Dunaway), John Does (Nos. 1-10), and Jane Does (Nos. 1-10) move, pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), to dismiss all claims brought by Plaintiff Angela Sanders, Personal Representative of William David Sanders (Mr. Sanders or Dave Sanders), a teacher killed in the April 20, 1999 attack on Columbine High School. After consideration of the motion, briefs, arguments of counsel, and for the following reasons, I deny it.
The unspeakable events at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 are unprecedented. Plaintiff alleges that at approximately 11:17 a.m. on April 20, 1999, Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked from an adjacent parking lot toward Columbine High School's southwest entrance doors. Complaint (C/O) ¶ 27. Each carried a shotgun, one, a Savage model 67H pump; the other, a Savage model 31 ID double-barrel, and various home-made explosive devices. Id. Harris also carried a 10-shot Hi-Point model 995 carbine rifle, while Klebold carried an Intratec TEC DC-9 semi-automatic pistol. Id. As the two neared the school at about 11:21 a.m., Harris and Klebold began shooting students outside, killing two and wounding approximately seven others. Id. at ¶ 28.
After being notified of the shots, the Columbine High School resource officer, a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy, drove his vehicle onto the grass within 30-40 yards of the southwest entrance doors, where he and another arriving Jefferson County sheriff's deputy exchanged shots with Harris and/or Klebold, who were positioned on the walkway leading to those doors. As the deputies took cover, Harris and Klebold walked through the doors and into the school building. Id. at ¶ 29.
Upon entering the school building, Harris and/or Klebold shot a student and a teacher then proceeded down a long hallway toward the administrative area near the front entrance of the school, shooting and throwing small home-made explosives as they walked. Several minutes later, the two reversed course and headed toward the cafeteria or "commons" area adjacent to the southwest doors through which they had entered. Id. at ¶¶ 30-31.
Meanwhile, the first 911 calls from witnesses at the scene were received in the Littleton Combined Communications Center about 11:21 a.m. and were immediately routed to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The emergency-rescue response to the scene was massive and swift, consisting of several fire trucks, 48 rescue and ambulance vehicles, 2 rescue helicopters, and approximately 166 emergency medical and fire rescue personnel. See C/O ¶ 42.
Some or all of the Command Defendants, designated by Plaintiff as Sheriff Stone, Lt. Kiekbusch, Lt. Walcher, Lt. Manwaring, and Undersheriff Dunaway arrived at Columbine High School between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m. and took command and control of the scene on behalf of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. C/O ¶ 33.
Lt. Kiekbusch, at the direction of and/or with the approval and knowing acquiescence of Sheriff Stone, assumed the roll of "Police Operations Officer" in command and control of all SWAT, police, bomb squad, emergency medical (EMS) and fire rescue personnel, equipment and resources at the scene when he arrived at Columbine High School about 11:30 a.m. He continued in that role throughout the afternoon of April 20, 1999. C/O ¶ 35.
Undersheriff Dunaway, at the direction of and/or with the approval and knowing acquiescence of Sheriff Stone, assumed and exercised command and control of SWAT, police, bomb squad, EMS and fire rescue personnel, equipment and resources when he arrived at Columbine High School. C/O ¶ 36.
Lt. Manwaring, at the direction of and/or with the approval and knowing acquiescence of Sheriff Stone and Lt. Kiekbusch, assumed the operational next-in command role of "Incident Commander" when he arrived at Columbine High School. C/O ¶ 37.
Lt. Walcher, a Jeffco Sheriff's Department SWAT Team supervisor, at the direction of and/or with the approval and knowing acquiescence of Sheriff Stone, Lt. Kiekbusch, and Lt. Manwaring, replaced Lt. Manwaring as Incident Commander when Lt. Manwaring left the staging area to approach the School with a SWAT team about 1:00—2:00 p.m. on April 20, 1999. C/O ¶ 38.
The Command Defendants directed all responding police, including SWAT teams, fire, and rescue personnel, to report to and remain within the "staging area," where most of these resources remained unutilized until much later in the afternoon. C/O ¶¶ 40, 42.
At about 11:35 a.m., Mr. Sanders, who was standing outside the cafeteria crowded with students on the early-lunch shift, saw the gunmen approaching, ran into the cafeteria shouting for all students to evacuate the cafeteria immediately. Id. at ¶ 66. Ignoring his own safety, Mr. Sanders remained behind the last of the students fleeing the cafeteria to guide them to safety through a stairway. As he urged the last of the students up the stairs, Mr. Sanders was shot twice in the back by Klebold with the Intratec DC-9 at approximately 11:40 a.m. Id. at ¶¶ 2, 67.
Despite his wounds, Mr. Sanders continued to guide the students as he staggered up the stairs and into the upstairs hallway. Mr. Sanders and approximately fifty other students and teachers made their way to Science Room 3, Columbine High School's outermost classroom on the second floor in the building's southwestern corner. Once in Science Room 3, Mr. Sanders collapsed from his wounds. Another teacher, Doug Friesen, and several students began administering first aid by pressing makeshift compresses into his wounds to slow the bleeding. C/O ¶¶ 2, 4, 68.
By no later than approximately 12:15 p.m., Harris and Klebold, known to the Command Defendants to be the only shooters in the school, committed suicide in the Library. C/O ¶¶ 5-6. The Command Defendants learned of the suicides no later than 12:30 p.m., C/O ¶¶ 6, 64, as their deaths were visible to police sharp-shooters posted on nearby rooftops using high-powered binoculars and telescopic rifles. Those officers were in direct communication with the Command Defendants by telephone and/or portable radio. See C/O ¶ 64.
Despite this information, and in contradiction to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Manual, the Command Defendants, initially and for the rest of the afternoon, characterized the situation as a "hostage" situation rather than a "high risk" situation. C/O ¶¶ 11-12, 44-45, 52, 57. As a result of this erroneous characterization, the equipment, resources, and personnel available to the Command Defendants were not deployed until hours after the attack began.
In the meantime, by no later than 12:30 p.m., at least two of Mr. Sander's Science Room 3 companions informed the police via 911 calls, relayed to the Command Defendants, of the seriousness of Mr. Sanders' condition as well as his precise location. Id. at ¶¶ 69-70. To remove any possibility of confusion as to Mr. Sanders' location, a fellow teacher placed a large white sign in the exterior window, on which was written in large capital letters the following message: "1 BLEEDING TO DEATH." C/O ¶ 72.
Throughout the afternoon, another teacher in Science Room 3 remained on the phone with the 911 operators delivering updates, relayed to the Command Defendants, on Dave Sanders' worsening medical condition. Id. at ¶ 70. In response to the initial and later 911 calls from Science Room 3, beginning around 12:00 noon and continuing for more than three hours, based on the Command Defendants orders, the 911 operators: 1) informed the callers that help was "on the way" and would arrive "in...
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