Ask Dr. Notebook

By Melissa August, Val Castronovo, Matthew Cooper, Daren Fonda, Ellin Martens, Benjamin Nugent, Julie Rawe, Eric Roston and Josh Tyrangiel

Q. How is it possible that anyone--let alone the Jefferson County Attorney's Office--can be selling a video showing scenes from the Columbine massacre complete with a music score? Isn't that sick?

A. The wheels of justice take us all some strange places. The Littleton fire fighters who made the lengthy training video, which has been shown to more than 80 rescue teams in the U.S. and Canada, never intended for the material to be shown to the public. But last week a judge ordered the tapes released to the victims' families who are suing Jefferson County for mishandling the rescue. Although fire officials and the sheriff's department strongly opposed public distribution of the video, the county attorney made the tapes available to individuals and news organizations to avoid additional lawsuits. The $25 price tag, the attorney said, covers the cost of production and distribution.

The video, which tours the school's blood-soaked interior and includes footage from a news helicopter of students fleeing, was compiled by a fire-department employee who, trying to make training more interesting for his colleagues, added pop songs to part of the tape. After outraged parents called the sound track tasteless and record companies called it copyright infringement, Jefferson County began selling only music-free versions of the tape.