Father of Columbine victim: 'Life taken in godless school'

The father of a victim in the 1999 Columbine school shooting in Colorado has triggered a battle of words with his choice of inscription for the newly completed memorial for the 13 slain students.

Brian Rohrbough, who now serves as president of Colorado Right to Life, submitted an inscription for the memorial in a park close to the school that blames the violence in today's culture on the choice society makes to remove God from the equation.

The inscription, in honor of his son, Dan Rohrbough, one of students killed on that April 20 by suicide attackers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, says:

Dad, I have a question. Why?

My son in a Nation that legalized the killing of innocent children in the womb; in a County where authorities would lie and cover up what they knew and what they did; in a Godless school system your life was taken ... Dan I'm sorry.

I love you dad I'll see you tomorrow.

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7:00 p.m., April 19, 1999.

There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.

"Using the death of his child to score some dubious and inconsistent political points on behalf of his employer says more about Mr. Rohrbough than it does about the society he critiques," one anonymous reader commented on a forum at the Rocky Mountain News paper.

"Better we allow these types to show themselves by giving them the freedom to indulge their vanity and conjure an artificial 'controversy' even if it temporarily sullies the underlying purpose of the memorial to remember and honor those children who were killed."

But others came to Rohrbough's defense.

"For all of you who are critical of Mr. Rohrbough's comments: Step up to the plate and give the life of your child," wrote Rex. "Then and only then, can you judge what is appropriate or not in your child's memorial. Until then, keep your pie hole shut. Agree with his words or not, he has the right to express them."

Rohrbough, like many other family members of Columbine victims, long has criticized authorities in the county for failing to pursue early warnings about Harris and Klebold, their response to the tragedy, and the fact that many of the investigative records even today remain sealed.

The current Jefferson County sheriff, Ted Mink, did not hold that office eight years ago, and chose not to address Rohrbough's comments directly.

"Our hope is that the Columbine Memorial serves as a place of comfort and healing for the community," Mink said in a statement.

The memorial is of flagstone and granite and is in a hillside overlooking the school. At the time it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, although the death toll was much lower than what the attackers had planned and hoped for, according to later investigations.

The Rohrbough inscription did not detract from the peace the project offers, according to a family member of another victim.

"I think it's going to be a place of healing and forgiveness. It's a beautiful place," said Patricia DePooter, who lost her son, Cory, at Columbine.

On one side are a series of fountains.

"It's like God's creation all around us, and then the memorial is right in the middle of it," said Don Fleming, who lost his daughter, Kelly, in the attack.

During the recent dedication of the memorial, officials released 13 doves one at a time – honoring each student victim. Then hundreds more were released to rise up in a flurry of white motion.

Dan Rohrbough's mother, Sue Petrone, who is divorced from Brian Rohrbough, didn't want to create any challenge at the memorial.

"It's a neat place. It's very calming. It's a place you can come and reflect," she said.

Rohrbough, in 2006 when a lone gunman attacked and killed students at an Amish school, said there are no limits on such tragedies because of the nation's choice to eliminate God from schools and public life.

"When my son Dan was murdered on the sidewalk at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, I hoped that would be the last school shooting. Since that day, I’ve tried to answer the question, 'Why did this happen?'" he told CBS at the time.

"This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.

"We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.

"Suicide has become an acceptable action and has further emboldened these criminals. And we are seeing an epidemic increase in murder-suicide attacks on our children.

"Our children have become a target of terrorists from within the United States," he said.

WND also reported about the possible connections with prescription medications when Virginia Tech student, Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 students and faculty members.

Other instances of school-related attacks investigated for that report included:

In 1988, 31-year-old Laurie Dann, who had been taking Anafranil and Lithium, walked into a second-grade classroom in Winnetka, Ill., and began shooting. One child was killed and six wounded.
Later that same year, 19-year-old James Wilson went on a shooting rampage at the Greenwood, S.C., Elementary School and killed two 8-year-old girls and wounded seven others. He'd been on Xanax, Valium and five other drugs.
Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old of Springfield, Ore., in 1998 murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
Patrick Purdy, 25, in 1989 opened fire on a school yard filled with children in Stockton, Calif. Five kids were killed and 30 wounded. He been treated with Thorazine and Amitriptyline.
Steve Lieth of Chelsea, Mich., in 1993 walked into a school meeting and shot and killed the school superintendent, wounding two others, while on Prozac.
10-year-old Tommy Becton in 1996 grabbed his 3-year-old niece as a shield and aimed a shotgun at a sheriff's deputy who accompanied a truant officer to his Florida home. He'd been put on Prozac.
Michael Carneal, 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in Heath High in West Paducah, Ky. Three died and one was paralyzed. Carneal reportedly was on Ritalin.
In 1998, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson apparently faked a fire alarm at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., and shot at students as they left the building. Four students and a teacher were killed. The boys were believed to be on Ritalin.
In 1999, Shawn Cooper, 15, of Notus, Idaho, took a shotgun to school and injured one student. He had been taking Ritalin.
Todd Smith walked into as high school in Taber, Alberta, Canada in 1999 with a shotgun and killed one and injured a second student. He has been given a drug after a five-minute phone consultation with a psychiatrist.
Steven Abrams drove his car into a preschool playground in 1999 in Costa Mesa., Calif., killing two. He was on probation with a requirement to take Lithium.
In 2000, T.J. Solomon, 15, opened fire at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., while on a mix of antidepressants. Six were wounded.
The same year Seth Trickey of Gibson, Okla., 13, was on a variety of prescriptions when he opened fire on his middle-school class, injuring five.
Elizabeth Bush, 14, was on Prozac. She shot and wounded another student at Bishop Neumann High in Williamsport, Pa.
Jason Hoffman, 18, in 2001 was on Effexor and Celexa, both antidepressants, when he wounded two teachers at California's Granite Hills High School.
In Wahluke, Wash., Cory Baadsgaard, 16, took a rifle to his high schooland held 23 classmates hostage in 2001. He has been taking Paxil and Effexor.
In Tokyo in 2001, Mamoru Takuma, 37, went into a second-grade classroom and started stabbing students. He killed eight. He had taken 10 times his normal dosage of an antidepressant.
Duane Morrison, 53, shot and killed a girl at Platte Canyon High School in Colorado in 2006. Antidepressants later were found in his vehicle.
In 2005, 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota was under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac when he shot and killed nine people and wounding five before committing suicide.