Sheriff's department braces for Columbine anniversary crowd

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies have begun 24-hour patrols of Columbine High School in anticipation of tens of thousands of people expected to show up for the one-year anniversary of the

Monday, April 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies have begun 24-hour patrols of Columbine High School in anticipation of tens of thousands of people expected to show up for the one-year anniversary of the Columbine shootings.

Officials expect as many as 100,000 people at the school and adjacent Clement Park Thursday, the first anniversary of the day two teen-age gunmen killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves.

The estimate is based on the crowds in Oklahoma City on the first anniversary of the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people.

"We will definitely have an increased presence," said Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis. "We will be in the park and around the area all week, 24 hours a day."

On Sunday, a sheriff's command post was set up in the park for paramedics and deputies, who are bracing for traffic and crowd-control issues.

As many as 70 deputies on foot, horse and bicycle will patrol the area this week, with about 30 members of the sheriff's reserve unit on hand.

While security officers took their positions and media trucks began rolling into Clement Park on Sunday, some Columbine families planned to get away from reminders of the country's worst school shooting.

"My daughter is leaving the state because she doesn't want to be dealing with that one more time," said Steve Schweitzberger, whose daughter, Sara, attends the school. He said several of his daughter's friends had planned vacations during the week for the same reason.

The Jefferson County School District, Colorado's largest with 88,000 students at 140 schools, was increasing security at other buildings. Columbine Public Library was to be closed Thursday.

"We are looking first and foremost to try to maintain some degree of normalcy in the schools," said Karen Duffala, director of safety and security for the district.

Attendance is optional Thursday for students at Columbine and at nearby Leawood Elementary. School identification or special badges will be required to get inside Columbine.

Despite the increased security and memories the anniversary haves parked, Schweitzberger said candlelight vigils, concerts and other planned events were necessary.

"It would say far worse about society if we forgot about it," he said.