Columbine High basketball star commits suicide

LITTLETON, Colo. - As a sophomore, Greg Barnes watched girls basketball coach Dave Sanders bleed to death after the murderous attack on Columbine High School. As a junior this year, he became a prime-time basketball guard, leading the team with 26.2 points a game, starring in class and earning adoration from fans.

On Thursday, the 17-year-old Barnes hanged himself in his Colorado home as a CD, set to replay continuously, blared "Adam's Song," by the group Blink 182. The lyrics include the phrases "I never thought I'd die alone" and "I'm too depressed to go on. You'll be sorry when I'm gone."

Fifty-four weeks after the Columbine tragedy, the death of a youth so popular and successful left Jefferson County residents weeping anew and wondering when the scarred community will catch a break. The suicide was the second among friends or relatives of Columbine High victims.

"We were just saying yesterday, `It's been quiet since the anniversary. We hope we can just finish the rest of the year with no other tremors,' " Jefferson County Schools spokesman Rick Kaufman said yesterday as a fresh wave of grief counselors made their way to the suburban Denver high school.

"I talked to him the night before, and it didn't seem like anything was wrong," teammate Dave Mitchell said. "We talked about the usual stuff, girls."

"I just didn't believe it," said Brian Deidel, a teammate and childhood friend. "It was horrible. It made me mad. Mad at Greg. He had so much going for him. He didn't need to do that to everybody who knows him, who loves him."

Investigators would not say whether Barnes left a note.

Mental-health specialists said they do not know what demons bedeviled Barnes. They hesitated to link his suicide to the events of April 20, 1999, when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13 people, wounded 23 more and shot themselves to death.

"It's not necessarily related to Columbine. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teenagers," said Tom Olbrich, a social worker at the Jefferson Center for Mental Health in nearby Arvada. "It's such a waste. Even if all the other Columbine things hadn't happened, it's still a tragedy."

In the earlier Columbine-related suicide, the mother of Anne Marie Hochhalter, a student paralyzed in the shooting, walked into a pawnshop in October, asked to see a gun, loaded it and shot herself to death. On Valentine's Day, two Columbine sweethearts were shot to death in a sandwich shop.

Barnes, to outsiders, seemed a surprising candidate for despair. He scored highly in school and even higher on the basketball court.

He had 31 points in Columbine's loss during a state quarterfinal playoff game in March. The Denver Post and The Denver Rocky Mountain News named him to their all-state teams, and Barnes would have been the top player in the state next year, according to coaches of two opposing teams.

Recruiters from Notre Dame, Harvard and other colleges liked what they heard and saw of the still-growing, 6-foot-3 guard.

"He was obviously in a high class of character and talent," said Vanderbilt assistant coach Tim Jankovich, who had an upbeat talk with Columbine basketball coach Rudy Martin on Thursday, before Barnes' body was discovered.

Martin called him "a tremendous worker and a great student and an outstanding basketball talent," Jankovich said. "I think he mentioned that he could be tough on himself at times, but I don't know many competitors who aren't that way."