Columbine teachers after the massacre

I wonder about the Columbine teachers that survived the massacre. There's always talk about the students that survived the massacre and what their lives turn out. What about the teachers? Did all the teachers retire? Does anyone know what Judith Kelly, Rich Long, Peggy Dodd, or any other teachers lives have been like after that tragic day?

Good question. I know that Peggy Dodd was on the news a lot right afterward, but they all seem pretty quiet now. I think Frank DiAngelis was the only real long term adult that kept popping up in the news.

It might be due to the fact that the event was so traumatic. Many of the LE that were there had a hard time afterwards. Bree Pasqual took three days before she could even sleep again after the shooting.

I wonder if there is anyone left in that school who was there on April 20, 1999...

I think maybe half of the staff quit right after 4/20 and it's been over 16 years, so many are retired now, including Mr. D.

Maybe some janitors are still left...

What happened to Neil Gardner? How about Patti Nielson?

I recall that one of the responding cops retired to become a realtor.

Neil Gardner was having marital problems right before the shooting. In the docs, his interview states that he and his wife were separated. He was also trained as a bike cop also. He apparently got a lot of flack form the kids, but he claimed to prefer it since it enabled him to be closer to the kids.

The day of the shooting, his first thought was that there had been some kind of food fight in the cafeteria. Here is an excerpt from a story on his police dog passing away this was in 2006, but it states he retired that year. Quote and link:

"Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner and police dog Muci were partners until Muci's death over the weekend, three weeks after surgery to
remove a tumor from his spleen. "He was a special dog," Gardner said. By Charley Able, Rocky Mountain News November 29, 2006
Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner planned to retire to his Western Slope ranch with his police dog Muci at year's end. But now Gardner
will finish his 24 years of service to Jefferson County without his longtime partner. Muci died last weekend, apparently passing peacefully in his sleep, after seven years of ensuring the public's safety. When Muci was found dead early Sunday, Gardner was away at the ranch, one of the few times he had gone there without his companion. "It's going to be hard when I actually get home and go the kennel and he's not there," Gardner said Tuesday. "He was a special dog." Muci underwent surgery three weeks ago to have a tumor removed from his spleen and seemed to have bounced back, returning to work within days. Muci's last day on the job was Friday, less than two days before he died. Muci was a top-notch bomb dog, recognized in 2005 as the explosive-detection dog of the year by the Colorado Police Canine Association. "Every time he had a certification (test), he never missed one explosive," Gardner said. The dog's first assignment was at Columbine High School in 1999 after students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 of their schoolmates and a teacher before killing themselves. At the time, Gardner was the school resource officer at Columbine. About a year and a half later, though, Muci's previous handler changed jobs and Muci and Gardner partnered up. Muci's sensitive nose uncovered two potentially lethal situations, one at a former business in Golden where the dog found an old cache of dynamite and again at a storage unit where he alerted investigators of the presence of explosives, ammunition and gunpowder. The Gardner-Muci partnership continued off-duty as well, with Muci quickly becoming a member of the Gardner family, which includes three other dogs. Muci offered unbridled devotion and a sense of security for Gardner's five daughters and two sons. "A lot of times, if we weren't home and the girls were scared at night, they would bring Muci in the house," Gardner said. Muci, a 10-year-old mix known as a Dutch shepherd, spent his last years patrolling the hallways of the county's Administration and Courts Building, where his friendly nature and affectionate ways captured a number of hearts. "You never quite know the worth of your dog. You know he's a special dog, but the way he touched people was quite amazing, actually, "Gardner said. News of Muci's death brought tears to the eyes of a number of county employees, including Julie Gasparovich, who works at the information desk in the atrium of the county building. "He was just a wonderful dog, an asset to the sheriff's department," Gasparovich said. "You could see how people would radiate to him. They ask about him all the time. He was a sweetie, and I am going to miss him." Pat Holloway, former Jefferson County Commissioner, fell for -Muci the first time they met, in the hallways of the county building. "There aren't many dogs like him; Muci was really special," Holloway said. "He was beautiful, and he  had a personality. "Many times I would just sit on the floor with him and rub him. He would lay there and cuddle with you. He was a totally different dog . . . than when he was working."
p.s.  Officer Neil Gardner is the sheriff's deputy assigned to work each day at Columbine --there is one armed deputy in each of Jefferson County's high schools, not for any particular reason, according to sheriff's spokesman Davis, just the times we live in. Gardner heard a war erupt in his school and drew his pistol and charged in the direction of the noise. In a corridor near the commons he encountered one of the gunmen and they started firing at each other. Neither was hit. Gardner retreated to call for reinforcements, but already the 911 dispatcher was calling all cars. Two more deputies arrived within minutes and charged into the building. More shots were exchanged.

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Quote :

Two more deputies arrived within minutes and charged into the building. More shots were exchanged.

That would have been Jefferson County Deputies Scott Taborsky and Paul Smoker who arrived on the west side of the school @ 11:26 am.

Did they really charge into the school ?

I don't think any one went "Charging" into the school, they were all concerned about the old protocol of Define a perimeter and don't let anything in or out.

For the current protocol, they did what they were supposed to do. At the time, everyone was thinking it was a hostage standoff. Now, thanks in part to Columbine, we have better active shooter plans. They're even redoing how actual victims and targets are supposed to react as well. There's more talk of fighting back sooner instead of just being a compliant hostage.

According to Randy Brown, Gardiner and a few other officers did charge towards the school. He fired at Eric and Dylan haphazardly, with the bullets fired actually penetrating through the walls of the school endangering students' lives.

Well looky here, I found something on one of the teachers

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I can't imagine suffering the way she did. To become physically affected by a traumatic experience like that is horrible.

What class was Dylan in that she taught? It mentions how she knew the other kids in more detail but just says Dylan was one of her students.

Paula Reed taught English.

Dylan was enrolled in Conlit/Crt (Creative Writing) Class from Dec '98-May '99 with Mrs Kelly.

So, it must have been before that when he had Paula Reed as a teacher in English class.

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

According to Randy Brown, Gardiner and a few other officers did charge towards the school. He fired at Eric and Dylan haphazardly, with the bullets fired actually penetrating through the walls of the school endangering students' lives.

Its probably BS. Gardiner was firing at Eric when Eric was by the entrance, with Eric just having fired his own gun into the door. So when Gardiner was shooting twoards the entrance, everyone was already running in the other direction through the school.

Simply put: Gardiner couldn't hit any innocent kid, because none was to be found in the area where the shots fell. There was juts Eric and his gun. Frankly, if Gardiner was a better shot, the whole massacre might have ended right then and there. I imagine Dylan alone would probably just fire a few missed shots at running students (Dylan by all evidence was a bad shot, never hitting anyone other than basiclaly point blank) and then commit suicide somewhere.

I agree that he could have ended the massacre right there. But, firing a light frame semi auto handgun under duress is a daunting task. Trying to keep aim, especially for a guy who looks after a sleepy place like rural Colorado, is hard. That's why you always see stories about cops shooting an entire magazine at one person and only hitting them twice. Lots of those shots go wide for the sake of adrenaline.

I took a handgun instruction course last year, and it was a real eye opener when they started moving the targets around. I went from a nice tight grouping of shots, to a wide spread that missed the entire paper target in some cases. The odd thing is, the larger and heavier revolver was better at maintaining aim than the lighter Glock 9mm semi auto.

Well, here's something on Rich Long
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So, it seems he saw a change in them after the lock combination thing.

I didn't know that Devon and Dylan danced at the prom either.

Found another one, though this one is sad
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Wow, she was really heroic that day. Talk about a run of bad luck.

An article about Patti Nielson from October 1999
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Here's a bit on Kent Friesen, the chemistry teacher
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