The cafeteria register tape anomaly
Rachel Scott is said to have been killed by the first shots fired at around 11:19-11:20 a.m., but that timeline doesn't match the record of her purchasing a small milk from the cafeteria at 11:32 a.m. (11k, p.9864)
To resolve this time discrepancy, officials said the cafeteria register was running ten minutes fast, which means Rachel would have bought lunch at the time she was allegedly killed.
"I observed the clock to be ten minutes forward of the true time. This was compared to both CBI/Chuck Davis's and my watch." (11k, p.9846)
If this is accurate, Rachel Scott got her lunch at 11:22:36 a.m.
This doesn't make sense. It would have taken her a couple minutes to get out of the cafeteria and walk all the way up the stairs and then sit down on the ground with Richard Castaldo. Even if she did purchase her milk at 11:22 a.m., she would have walked right into the shooting rather than already sitting down with Richard.
Full details
At 10:30 on 4/28/99 the Director of Jefferson County School Security requested a computer print out of the cafeteria's meal transactions for the morning of 4/20.
This was necessary to update the cash accounts of students prior to returning to Chatfield High School on 5/3/99 where temporary classes would take place.
It was reported that the cash register was running ten minutes fast. "I observed the clock to be ten minutes forward of the true time." (11k, p.9846)
The cash register records have Rachel Scott paying for a small milk at 11:32:36. Rolling back the time ten minutes, that would mean Rachel actually made her purchase at 11:22:36. This still doesn't work with the timeline of the first shots being fired at 11:19 a.m.
According to the unadjusted cafeteria register time, Rachel's brother Craig bought his lunch at 11:15:08 (11:05:08 with the time adjustment). (11k, p.9857)
The time of the last transaction on the cafeteria cash register that day is 11:36:21 (11:26:21 a.m. without the time adjustment), (11k, p.9866). Rolled back ten minutes that would be 11:26:21, which again, doesn't match the timeline because nobody was buying lunch that late. (11k, p.9866)
The student who made the last purchase was Charles Fisher.
Charles Fisher (11k, pp.2992-2993) is on record purchasing lunch at 11:36:04 a.m. (11:26:04 a.m. with the time adjustment) and only 17 seconds passed since his purchase and the last unnamed cash purchase was recorded. It's safe to consider his purchase the last purchase for the purpose of establishing a timeline.
Fisher said that he had just bought his lunch and was still in the purchase line when Will Beck (11k, pp.687-689) ran into the cafeteria saying someone had been shot outside. Then Dave Sanders started yelling at everyone to get down.
There were less than four minutes between Rachel Scott's purchase and Charles Fisher's purchase.
Beck was on the lower part of the stairs outside the cafeteria having lunch, heard a commotion, and saw two guys go down, one was shot in the knee. He likely saw Daniel Rohrbough and Lance Kirklin go down. He heard one of them say, "I'm paralyzed," which is what Sean Graves said when he went down. Beck only saw one gunman, likely Klebold, given the timing and location and other witness statements that match the shooter's actions. Then, he ran into the cafeteria to warn people.
If Will Beck ran into the cafeteria right after Rohrbough and Kirklin went down, and that event happened after Fisher purchased his lunch at 11:26:04 a.m. (with time adjustment, rolled back from 11:36:04 a.m.), then the shooting started later than we've been told.
This would mean that Rachel Scott bought lunch at 11:22:36 a.m., walked up the stairs and sat down with Richard Castaldo, while Charles Fisher bought his lunch at 11:26:04 a.m., and right about that time was when the first shots were fired. Rachel Scott couldn't have been sitting with Richard for more than a minute when she was shot.
If Rachel purchased her milk at 11:22 a.m., and four minutes later, Charles Fisher purchased his lunch, and about a minute later Will Beck ran into the cafeteria after witnessing the first shots fired, then the shooting couldn't have started until at least 11:24 a.m. because it would have taken Rachel at least two minutes to walk up the stairs and go sit down with Richard.
The majority of witness interviews place the first shots being fired closer to 11:16-11:17 a.m., which means either the register was off by more than ten minutes, or times have been altered throughout the entire 11k. The latter is unlikely, although I can prove Jeffco altered times of other agencies' arrival by 10-20 minutes to make it seem like they arrived later. So, there is reason to keep altered times in mind as a possibility.
At approximately 11:15 a.m., Paul Smoker is writing a speeding ticket when he hears a call on the radio that there is a "female down" at Columbine High School. He is 8 blocks away from Columbine. Note that according to Smoker, the suspect standing at the doors who shot at him (and Gardner) with a rifle was wearing a dark jacket and a hat. It was either Klebold or someone else. It was not Harris. Harris had long since dropped his coat. Even Gardner's description doesn't match Harris. Gardner's description is for another post.
At 11:22:10a.m., Lindsie Macy is on the phone with 911, and she notes the first cops pull up at 11:24:10-ish.
Gardner reports shots fired to dispatch at 11:26 a.m.
The first library alarm goes off at 11:31:36 a.m.
At 11:32 a.m., Gardner reported he was under fire to dispatch
Newer researchers may not even be aware that there is reason to question where Rachel was when she was shot. This will be addressed in another post later. This timeline should create enough doubt, but once witness testimony is examined, it's even more clear that something is really wrong with how and where Rachel was when she was shot regarding when the shooting began.
Some misc. background on why the transactions were reviewed
At 10:30 on 4/28/99, the Director of Jefferson County School Security requested a computer print out of the cafeteria’s meal transactions for the morning of 4/20.
This was necessary to update the cash accounts of students prior to returning to Chatfield High School on 5/3/99 where temporary classes would take place.