DENVER, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar said Thursday the Columbine High School killers had at least 15 contacts with law officers before the 1999 massacre.
Salazar said the contacts with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began in 1997 with snowball throwing and a phone-prank call, but escalated to threats via the Internet and a van break-in.
Two years later, Harris and Klebold killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at the Littleton school before taking their own lives in the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
The Jefferson County sheriff requested an independent investigation by the attorney general to determine if law enforcement could have done more to prevent the tragedy. Salazar did not blame the sheriff's office in his statement.
Salazar's report came after scores of police investigative records and other evidence from the shooting were made public Thursday. He hopes opening the records will to be a lesson for families, schools and law enforcement in the future.
"In the end, none of the many efforts to open up the Columbine records, including today's activity, will mean much beyond passing curiosity if we cannot learn from this tragedy," he said.
