This Day In History: 04/20

Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

By Scott Sarvay
WISE-TV
April 20, 2011

Another difficult anniversary for America will be commemorated.

On the 19th it was the anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and the Branch Davidian assault [link added].

Today is the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings [link added].

Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves on this date in 1999.

And one year ago the nation suffered the worst oil spill in its history when BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded [links added], killing 11 workers and gushing millions of barrels of oil. …

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4/21/11 Update

FBI Hunts Suspected Domestic Terrorist After Bomb Found on Columbine Anniversary

Video

‘Person of interest’ sought in Colo. bomb attempt (MSNBC, April 21, 2011) — Federal and Colorado law enforcement officials are looking for a “person of interest” who may have information about an attempted bombing at a shopping mall. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. (02:29)

By P. Solomon Banda

April 21, 2011

LITTLETON, Colo. — Authorities couldn’t help seeing similarities to the Columbine High School shooting after a fire forced the evacuation of a mall just two miles from the campus.

Just like Columbine, an unexploded pipe bomb and propane tanks were discovered Wednesday at Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton.

In addition, the blaze coincided with the 12th anniversary of the deadly shooting that left 12 students and one teacher dead.

“We’re concerned about the date, the time, things of that nature, but we don’t have anything solid that would indicate any link at all other than, certainly, circumstances,” Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink said Thursday. …

The two propane tanks found at Southwest Plaza Mall were discovered in a hallway of the food court after the fire was reported around 11:50 a.m. Wednesday.

The Columbine shootings started at 11:19 a.m. and ended at 12:08 p.m. on April 20, 1999, with the suicides of the two teenage gunmen. Unexploded pipe bombs and propane tanks with explosives attached were found in the school cafeteria after the shooting. …

Investigators were trying to find the man seen on videotape entering a stairwell through the side door and on an escalator in the mall.

Authorities also were investigating the cause of the fire, including whether it was sparked by failed detonation of the bomb, West Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Cindy Matthews said.

Denver FBI special agent in charge Jim Yacone said investigators intended to interview several other witnesses. …

Full story

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4/22/11 Update

Person of Interest Now a Suspect in Colorado Mall Fire

The FBI released this photo taken from surveillance video of a suspect wanted in connection with a fire and with placing a pipe bomb at Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton, Colo. (Photo credit: FBI via AP)

April 22, 2011

LITTLETON, Colo. — Authorities investigating a fire that led to the discovery of a pipe bomb and propane tanks in a Colorado mall released three new surveillance photos Friday of a man who officials say is now considered a suspect in the case.

The new photos of the man show him riding a public bus away from Southwest Plaza Mall on Tuesday evening, the night before the fire.

They provide the best view yet of the man, who has a grey mustache. He is wearing the same clothes he was wearing at the mall Wednesday.

The latest photos show a University of South Carolina logo on his baseball hat. …

Full story

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4/25/11 Update

Mall Bombing Attempt Suspect Was Just Out of Jail

This undated photo released by the Denver FBI shows Earl Albert Moore. Authorities say they’re searching for Moore, 65, in connection with the attempted attack on Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton, Colo. on April 20. (Photo credit: FBI via AP)

April 25, 2011

LITTLETON, Colo. — The man authorities suspect of carrying out an apparent attempted bombing at a Colorado shopping mall had been released from prison a week earlier.

The FBI said Sunday that agents were looking for Earl Albert Moore after Wednesday’s fire at Southwest Plaza Mall, about two miles from Columbine High School, where 13 people were killed 12 years ago.

Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that Moore, 65, was released from prison April 13.

FBI spokesman Dave Joly said Moore served time in a Georgia federal prison. Federal court records show that Moore pleaded guilty in May 2005 to robbing a bank in Crab Orchard, W.Va., of $2,546. …

Moore has an extensive criminal record and should be considered dangerous, federal officials said.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation records shows several arrests for possession of dangerous drugs, theft, and possession of burglary tools dating to 1984. …

Moore has used at least seven aliases that include variations of the names Earl Albert Buchannan, Donald Charles Morelli and Gary Steele, according to state arrest records. …

Moore is described as being between 6 feet and 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing about 200 to 225 pounds.

He’s bald with blue eyes and a grey mustache and has a tattoo of a Viking on each of his arms.

Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 20, 2010

Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties

One year ago today, I provided my weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Army Cpl. Michael D. Jankiewicz, 23, Ramsey, N.J., died April 9, 2010 in Zabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the CV-22 Osprey he was riding crashed during a combat operation. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

Two Air Force crew members — Maj. Randell Voas and Senior Master Sgt. James Lackey of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, along with a civilian government contractor — also were killed in the accident.

Cpl. Jankiewicz, who enlisted in July 2006, was on his second tour in Afghanistan. He had also been deployed twice to Iraq. He is survived by his mother, Serena, and father, Anthony.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — April 20, 2009

10 Years: Remembering Columbine

Two years ago today, on April 20, 2009 – the 10th anniversary of the Columbine tragedy — I recounted my peripheral involvement in that landmark event, first as a profiler for U.S. News & World Report in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and later as a collaborator with Rocky Mountain News reporter Jeff Kass, developing detailed psychological profiles of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for Kass’ 2009 book, Columbine: A True Crime Story.