Students returning to Columbine High School

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

Students left backpacks and other things - purses, glasses, keys, credit cards - as they ran from the building or hid in classrooms when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire.

Teachers met outside the building with the students who were in their classes when the attack began. In groups of about 15, the students were led into those classrooms to look for their belongings.

"Myself, personally, I think it will bring a lot of closure to myself and probably a lot of other students," said Zach Pearsy, who left a backpack, keys and a jacket inside the school.

"So I think it will be good for a lot of us today to get back in the school," he said.

"For myself, I didn't experience anything too horrific," Pearsy said. "I think for the students who did, it might be a little tough."

Counselors and clergy members were on hand to deal with emotions, and parents were invited - though most of the students came by themselves, driving or walking to the suburban school.

Students were barred from some areas - including the library, where Harris and Klebold killed most of their 13 victims and where their own bodies were found.

"Three areas are still off-limits. The library and science room are still a crime scene. The cafeteria is being cleaned up," said Rick Kaufman, spokesman for Jefferson County Public Schools.

Except for some items being held as evidence, belongings left in the library, the hallways or the cafeteria, where the shooting inside the school started, were placed in the auditorium for the students to pick up. Items left in lockers - searched by authorities after the shooting - were sorted, labeled and left in the gymnasium, Kaufman said.

Harris and Klebold, both seniors, began firing shots outside the school as lunch period began on a sunny Tuesday morning, then charged in and terrorized their schoolmates with guns and bombs. They killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 21 more before taking their own lives.

Columbine students finished out the school year at nearby Chatfield High School.

Students who were unable to make it today will be allowed in the school Wednesday morning, but Kaufman said he expected the bulk of the 1,900 students to retrieve their belongings today.

The district will spend the summer renovating the rooms damaged by bombs, bullets and water. Construction crews were arriving alongside students.

"Other than the library, the entire school was turned over to the district today, and the cleanup work begins today," Kaufman said.

On Monday, the dispute over how to memorialize the 15 deaths simmered as 13 crosses made a brief return to a hill overlooking the school in a Memorial Day tribute.

Carpenter Greg Zanis, whose crosses have been the subject of controversy since they were first erected, put them up again on the hill Monday for a brief tribute. He then moved them to private property, where they will remain until a decision is made on how to remember those killed in the attack.

State officials have promised to build a memorial in Clement Park, but the design has not been finalized.