Rooftop Shooters at Columbine: The Proof Part 2
Did witnesses mistake an HVAC repairman for a suspect? (Hint: Nope - and here's the proof)
This is part 2 in a 3-part series.
Part 1
Part 3 (coming soon)
In part 1 of this series, we looked at how the man on the roof captured in Brian Pain’s photo was not an HVAC repairman named Chris Clarke as the official story claimed, but a man wearing a ski mask and likely red suspenders.
We revealed that the HVAC repairman, Chris Clarke, was an insider who was also a Jefferson County Schools employee and related to “victim” Ann Marie Hochhalter.
We looked at evidence that Clarke may not have really been there that day, nobody witnessed his rescue take place despite multiple officers being with the person who allegedly rescued Clarke (DePew), and how the Ch. 4 helicopter footage conveniently starts just minutes after his rescue. We also drove a stake right through the heart of the story that the two office workers (Drinnon and Valerio) who filmed two suspects on the roof - including the man in Pain’s photo - actually saw SWAT on the rooftop, not suspects.
Now it’s time for an in-depth look at what witnesses reported seeing on the roof that day.
The official story
According to the official story per Jefferson County’s final report, all witnesses who saw a person on the roof during the Columbine incident saw HVAC repairman Chris Clarke and mistook him for a suspect. Without any visual references, this appears to make logical sense. It sounds reasonable, right? However, it’s physically impossible.
In this part 2, we’ll explore what witnesses reported seeing with photos from their vantage points, distance maps, and a simple demonstration proving none of them could have seen Clarke.
Many witnesses reported seeing a suspect on the roof - let’s start with the following 5:
Let’s start by looking at the following 5 witness reports that describe suspects on the roof:
Candice Cushman [11k, pp.2793-2797]
Michelle Fox [11k, pp.5193-5201]
Jessica Lucero [11k, pp.1506-1508]
Lindsay Conwell [11k, pp.2760-2767]
Jason Cornelius [11k, pp.6279-6282]
The official story says that all these people saw Clarke/the man in Pain’s photo on the roof. But three things make that impossible: Clarke’s reported location, distance/perspective, and elevated structures on the roof.
Although it’s never been proven that Clarke is the man in Pain’s photo, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll call that man Clarke/ski mask man throughout this article.
1. Candice Cushman [11k, pp.2793-2797]
“I ran through the auditorium & caught up with the people I had been with. When we got outside, I saw someone on the roof with what I thought was a black trench coat. He was aiming a gun, so Erica, Nick and I ran toward the smoker’s pit.”
Let’s look at her exit path:
Cushman’s exit path out of the gym was determined by corresponding statements from the two people she ran out with - Nick Antonio [pp.2361-2362] and Erica McClaughterty [pp.3704-3708].
Officials want us to believe that Cushman exited the gym where that arrow begins, looked back, and magically saw over the gym roof’s massive elevation and saw Clarke/ski mask man on the library rooftop at a lower elevation 294 feet away. That’s impossible.
In the image below, the white line below shows this distance. The bottom point is Clarke’s/ski mask man’s location and the top point is where Cushman exited, looked back, and saw someone on the roof:
That’s quite a distance. And from the ground? Seeing over the gym roof to a lower elevation? Hardly. But if it still seems possible, it’s because the aerial photo doesn’t capture the vast height of the gym. The gym rooftop is extremely elevated compared to the rest of the school. Here’s a photo of the gym in the background in white:
The following image is drone footage from Cushman’s vantage point where she exited, and you still can’t see the rooftops on the other side of the gym:
The gym roof completely blocks the view of the rest of the school even when flying a drone. And from Cushman’s vantage point standing on the ground, neither the library roof nor the girls’ locker room roof were visible - the only two places Clarke allegedly was.
But to clarify, Clarke never said he was on the library roof. He only said he was over the West hall and on the girls’ locker room roof. Ski mask man was photographed on the library roof. Officials just declared that man to be Clarke.
Whoever Cushman saw on the roof was standing on the gym roof. That makes it not Clarke/ski mask man.
2. Michelle Fox [11k, pp.5193-5201]
“Michelle said that she then began walking in a Northwest direction, on the gymnasium’s North side. Michelle said that after she walked about thirty yards in said direction, she looked back toward the gymnasium and noticed an individual “wearing white” standing on the roof of the gymnasium, along its North side, approximately fifteen yards from its West side. Michelle then indicated on a school map where she stopped and looked back toward the gymnasium, and where she saw this person on its roof. Michelle said that this person on the roof was holding something that was “long,” and appeared to be pointing it Northward. At the same time, Michelle said she heard about four “pops,” which she assumed were gunshots coming from this individual on the roof, but acknowledged could have been coming from the West side of the school.”
“I asked Michelle several times whether she was absolutely certain she saw an individual standing on the roof of the gymnasium. I reminded Michelle that the gymnasium would have been the tallest portion of the school from where she had been. Michelle was adamant that she had seen a person on the gymnasium roof, and she is “absolutely certain” that this person was wearing a white shirt.”
“Michelle was also adamant that she saw this person holding a long object, but could not confirm whether or not it was a gun.”
[11k, pp.5196-5197]
Fox exited from the same location as Cushman.
Let’s look at her exit path:
The purple area is the girls’ locker room roof and the yellow line is where the man in the ski mask was photographed.
Let’s look at Fox’s map where she marked the shooter’s location on the gym roof and translate that to the aerial photo:
The arrow represents her exit path and the dot on the gym roof represents where Fox saw the suspect on the roof.
Here’s a map showing the distance of 294 feet from the man in the ski mask and where Fox stood when she looked back and saw someone on the roof:
Officials want us to believe that both Cushman AND Fox mistakenly thought the suspect they saw standing on the gym roof was really on the library rooftop at a lower elevation 294 feet away. That’s impossible.
Here’s another photo of the location where Cushman and Fox exited. They exited toward the far left of this photo and ran to the left of this photo (their right), which would make the girls’ locker room roof (the lower rooftop just barely visible at the right edge of this photo) invisible to them:
They couldn’t have seen over that elevated rooftop to see Clarke/ski mask man on a lower elevation nearly 300 feet away.
To maintain their stories, officials rely on people not visiting the school to capture photos, videos, and see the layout for themselves. I visited the school several times in the early years and was able to wander around with friends without any issues. There was no security and I was invited by early 1990s graduates that teachers and staff were happy to see, so I was able to see a lot for myself.
Here’s another drone shot from a slightly different angle:
The library roof would be on the other side of the taller white roof toward the right of the image. So not only were Cushman and Fox on the ground with no visibility beyond the gym, but they were moving further away from the library rooftop, which would diminish any visibility they had.
The suspect Fox saw was not Clarke/ski mask man.
3. Jessica Lucero [11k, pp.1506-1508]
“She stated as she was running out the East doors of the high school that she believes she saw an individual dressed in black holding a gun up on the roof of the school. I asked if she could provide a description of the individual. She said she couldn’t.
I asked if she could provide a description of the gun this person was carrying. She said it wasn't a pistol, it appeared to be some long gun. Jessica was asked if she was sure about this information. She told me she believes she saw someone, but couldn't provide any additional information about the person.”
[11k, p.1508]
Let’s look at her exit path:
The red arrow is her exit path leading to Pierce Street. The yellow line is the area where the man in the ski mask was captured on film.
From the ground on the East side where Lucero exited, nobody could have seen over the elevated portion of the roof that blocks the view the library roof. The distance is also too far.
Here’s another view with the elevated roof portion highlighted in purple:
Let’s look at the distance between Lucero’s exit point and Clarke/ski mask man - 365 feet!
Now let’s look at Lucero’s exit point from her perspective on the ground:
Oof! Game over for the official story!!
This is what Lucero saw when she exited the East doors and looked back to see a suspect on the roof. You can see the gym roof sticking up in the back right of this photo. There is no possibility that Lucero saw someone on the library or girls’ locker room roof. There’s no possibility she saw Clarke/ski mask man.
4. Lindsay Conwell [11k, pp.2760-2767]
“Lindsay went straight East down the hallway by the math area… She ran out the doors. So many people were trying to get out the doors. She hit a set of steps and tripped. When she looked back, there was someone on the roof. It was just a glance. She couldn't tell what the person was wearing or holding, or what the person looked like. She kept running after that.”
[11k, pp.2762-2763]
Let’s look at her exit path:
The red arrow represents her exit path, while the circle is where she tripped and fell. The yellow line is where Clarke/ski mask man was photographed.
Again, the elevated portion of the roof would block her view of both the library and girls’ locker room. And the distance? 372 feet.
And here’s a view from the ground level:
Remember, the closer you are to the roof, the less you see. Even going back to the street doesn’t give you any visibility 372 feet over the other side of the school.
Again, the official story falls apart when you look for yourself. She could not have seen Clarke/ski mask man.
5. Jason Cornelius [11k, pp.6279-6282]
Cornelius was at Leawood Park with a group of students who had fled the school at approximately 11:15 a.m.
“Jason continued to say that he thought he observed a person on the school roof, but he did not know if this was a shooter..”
[11k, p.6281]
Let’s look at his location:
The point on the left represents Clarke’s/ski mask man’s location on the library rooftop. The point on the right represents Cornelius’ location when he saw the rooftop suspect.
The official narrative wants you to believe that Cornelius was standing in Leawood Park when he magically saw “repairman Chris Clark” from a minimum of over 700 feet away on the other end of the school’s rooftop. That’s impossible.
Let’s look at his approximate vantage point:
The library roof is way in the back, 700 feet away, slightly to the left, and at a lower elevation than the giant protrusion in the center of the roof that also can’t be seen from here.
Take that in. The ELEVATED portion of the roof is blocked from view, and Clarke/ski mask man was located on the OTHER SIDE of that elevated portion of the roof. For the official story to be true, all of these witnesses would need to be 100 feet tall with x-ray vision.
The visuals prove witnesses saw actual suspects on the roof
Visuals make a huge difference in terms of discerning what seems possible. When you look from the POV of these witnesses, it’s obvious they never saw the man in Pain’s photo/Clarke/ski mask man, and saw additional suspects on the roof.
Do you still believe the official story that all of these witnesses saw “repairman Chris Clark” on the library rooftop?
Even the first reports of the shooting reported two suspects on the roof - just like Valerio and Drinnon reported and recorded. This was broadcast on KHOW and they tried to suppress it after the fact…
“I asked Nancy if she could recall what time she arrived at Johnson Lake. She told me that it was no later than 11:00 a.m. Nancy started walking around the lake telling me that she had a headset radio on and she was listening to KHOW radio station and it was 11:15 a.m. when the radio station reported that there were two gunmen on the roof at Columbine High School with grenades.” Nancy Lindsey [pp.976-980]
Perspective makes it impossible for witnesses to have seen Clarke
The entire argument ends when you realize Clarke’s/ski mask man’s only locations (girls’ locker room roof & library roof) were 300-500 feet away from witnesses on the East and Northwest sides of the school. It’s not possible for someone standing on the ground in those locations to see anyone on the entire library roof or girl’s locker room roof. Not only does the perspective not work, but there were multiple elevations in the way.
The way perspective works is that short objects closer to you block more distant, taller objects from view. Imagine exiting a building and immediately looking back at the rooftop. You’re pretty close to the building. Even a 5-inch-tall soda can on the edge of that roof can block you from seeing a 6-foot-tall person standing on the roof further back. That’s how perspective works. And since it’s hard to visualize, I’ve created a demonstration to put things into… perspective. :)
First, look at the image on the left with three mason jars. The jars are three sizes and go from small to large front to back. They are 8 ounces, 16 ounces, and 32 ounces.
Notice in the middle photo that the smallest jar (8 oz) blocks your view of the two larger jars from a level vantage point? A 4” tall mason jar blocks the 7” tall mason jar at EYE LEVEL!
This is how rooftop protrusions (like the huge walls on the Columbine rooftop) would have completely blocked Clarke/ski mask man visibility from all of the witnesses. Even if Clarke/ski mask man was standing up (let’s say Clarke is the 7” mason jar in the back), and he was taller than the protrusions (the 4” mason jar), the people on the ground at a low vantage point could not have seen him. They couldn’t have seen him even if they were at eye level with the roof.
The protrusions/walls on top of the roof were actually taller than any human, so that makes it even more impossible for anyone to have seen Clarke/ski mask man from the ground.
The lower you are, the closer you are, the less you see on a rooftop.
Here’s another perspective just 5” below the edge of the counter (right):
Notice how a vantage point of just 5” lower than level makes all the jars nearly disappear? Even the one closest to the edge?
Now consider that this countertop is only two feet deep. Everything behind the 4” jar disappears at eye level, and when you drop down just 5” the small jar starts to drop out of sight as well.
If objects no more than two feet away can’t be seen from a level or low vantage point, how did these witnesses see Clarke/ski mask man from 300-500 feet away, through multiple protrusions?
It’s not possible. Not even if the witnesses were 10 feet tall and stood on ladders.
But that’s not all. There are additional witnesses who saw suspects on the roof, and in Part 3, we’ll dive into those reports.
If it wasn’t Clarke, then who was it?
So far, we’ve covered reports from five Columbine students who saw a suspect on the roof that couldn’t have been Clarke/ski mask man. Different vantage points. Same story. And none of them line up with the photo of Clarke/ski mask man. And we have two office workers who video taped two suspects on the roof at the same time, one matching “Clarke’s/ski mask man’s description,” and the other matching multiple students’ descriptions, blowing a hole in the narrative that only one man was on the roof that day.
The official narrative leans hard on “confusion” and “panic,” dismissing all of it as mistaken identity. But when you visit the school, when you stand where those witnesses stood, you realize something the press never bothered to report: they couldn’t have seen Clarke/ski mask man at all.
Even if the man in the ski mask was Clarke, witnesses could not have seen that man. That means there were other suspects on the roof.
So who was up there?
In Part 3, well explore other witnesses who saw suspects on the roof, including one who saw alleged shooter Eric Harris access the roof hatch from inside the school.
Until next time - keep your alibi airtight and don’t wear a ski mask while you repair your HVAC system or you’ll end up on CNN and lose your warranty coverage,
The Lost Crime Files
Incredible research as always and very clearly laid out. Who was this person (or persons) on the roof, and why were they there before all this happened. And moreover, why are the authorities trying to cover this up with this other story.
They were extra sloppy with the earlier hoaxes.