Confusing behavior

Wayne Harris’ statement to the police in 11k report: “Mr. Harris said he had no reason to believe his son would be involved with such a situation.”


Wayne Harris earlier that morning to 911 dispatcher: “My son is Eric Harris, and I’m afraid that he might be involved in the shooting at Columbine high school.”

What odd is that one of Eric’s friends called the Harris after she heard the news she asked if Eric was home Kathy said not to worry Eric’s at school she said that Kathy seemed calm in the phone .
I know the Harris are conservative ;but their behavior on that day seem kinda odd to me Your thoughts ?o

I wonder whether Wayne did brief Kathy on what he believed was happening and told her how to act should anyone call the house asking for information. Yes he may have suspected his son but like everyone else waiting for news it still needed confirming officially. Yes in the 11k it may say that he didn't believe his son would be involved in that situation but if you look at it from his parents point of view, Eric had been very clever to hide what was happening from his parents and no one did pick up on the warning signals. But after the fact when the report from Wayne was complied as evidence he did say that after the fact and it sounds to me like he meant to say something along the lines of "before Columbine occurred he didn't believe his son would be involved in a shooting because of x, y and z" whereas as we know he did call on the police and tell them he believed it was his son but this was probably only because what he heard on the news and not because he knew for certain himself. Dylan and Eric had everyone fooled.

I think Wayne was definitely concerned about his son and for a long time too. We know that Wayne knew about the Rebel missions as he has written some of the things that Eric did down in his notebook - specifically about putting glue in the locks of the neighbourhood. He knew that Eric was in some way depressed as he was on medication. I bet he knew Eric bought gun magazines and spent long amounts of time on Doom.

Going from the counsellor notes, we know that they had arguments and that they would both yell at one another. We also know that Eric was becoming demotivated and not producing work to a high enough standard in Wayne's eyes. I also think that Wayne wasn't stupid when Eric talked about that phone call where his shell casings had come in. If I was a parent I would immediately think that I would ask my child about it - who likes guns. Maybe Wayne was so tired and exhausted with Eric he chose to look the other way and ignore it.

I think when the shootings began they feared that it was Eric way more than they thought Eric would be hurt.

I kind of go back and forth with what I think Wayne believed at that time as well. Its clear that he was concerned enough about Eric's behavior to have kept notes on it. So he was aware that Eric was somewhat struggling. BUT with that being said, I also don't believe Wayne or Kathy thought Eric was a real threat to anyone, or capable of what he did until after the fact.

On 4/20 I feel that Wayne had likely searched his house to figure out where the gas smell was coming from when they arrived home, and had already seen all the incriminating evidence that Eric had left out in plain sight in his basement bedroom. Wayne was seeing all the news reports about Columbine, put it together and then called 911. So by that time I think he knew Eric was somehow involved.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

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On 4/20 I feel that Wayne had likely searched his house to figure out where the gas smell was coming from when they arrived home, and had already seen all the incriminating evidence that Eric had left out in plain sight in his basement bedroom. Wayne was seeing all the news reports about Columbine, put it together and then called 911. So by that time I think he knew Eric was somehow involved.

I forgot about that, yes! I think Wayne was always seriously worried about Eric but coming home and smelling gas and finding the remnants of Eric's final preparations would pretty much have been the cold realisation he needed. When listening to Wayne's phone call now it sounds as though he's in that sleep walking calmness that can only come with a rising terror. He was probably willing them to say 'no sir you're crazy it was Little Billy and his friend Sid that it responsible'

Either way, I feel really bad for the Harris family. I think they wanted to try for Eric but he'd already slipped away from them before they noticed his dissent.

On top of that the news kept reporting that it was people in black trench coats. Eric's odd behavior, the gas smell, gun barrel on his bed and now the perp is in a black trenchcoat like Eric owned. I think he deep down knew but didn't want to admit it. I mean who would?

Lizpuff wrote:

On top of that the news kept reporting that it was people in black trench coats.  Eric's odd behavior, the gas smell, gun barrel on his bed and now the perp is in a black trenchcoat like Eric owned.  I think he deep down knew but didn't want to admit it.  I mean who would?

Exactly. While Wayne's 911 call was very calm sounding to me, I believe behind the scenes he was likely freaking out.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Lizpuff wrote:

On top of that the news kept reporting that it was people in black trench coats.  Eric's odd behavior, the gas smell, gun barrel on his bed and now the perp is in a black trenchcoat like Eric owned.  I think he deep down knew but didn't want to admit it.  I mean who would?

Exactly. While Wayne's 911 call was very calm sounding to me, I believe behind the scenes he was likely freaking out.

He probably went into full military mode. There’s a crisis he has to handle it and he’ll deal with his emotions later. I have no doubt Kathy was probably a mess.

Screamingophelia wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Lizpuff wrote:

On top of that the news kept reporting that it was people in black trench coats.  Eric's odd behavior, the gas smell, gun barrel on his bed and now the perp is in a black trenchcoat like Eric owned.  I think he deep down knew but didn't want to admit it.  I mean who would?

Exactly. While Wayne's 911 call was very calm sounding to me, I believe behind the scenes he was likely freaking out.

He probably went into full military mode. There’s a crisis he has to handle it and he’ll deal with his emotions later. I have no doubt Kathy was probably a mess.

Agreed.