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Alleged provider of Columbine handgun may face new charge
June 22, 1999 LITTLETON, Colorado (CNN) -- The 22-year-old man charged with providing the TEC-DC9 handgun used in the Columbine High School shooting will face an additional charge when he appears in court Wednesday, his attorney told CNN. Mark Manes was arrested last month on one count for unlawfully providing or permitting a juvenile to possess a handgun. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, used explosives and four different guns, including the TEC-DC9, in the April 20 attack on the school. After killing 13 people and wounding more than 20, Harris and Klebold killed themselves. Manes' attorney, Robert Ransome, said that prosecutors will also charge his client with possession of a dangerous weapon in connection with an earlier incident in which Manes went target shooting with Harris and Klebold. "Either Eric or Dylan had a short shotgun. My client was there and shot the gun once," Ransome said. A spokeswoman for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office declined to comment, other than to say that additional charges had been discussed. Ransome said he does not know if the sawed-off shotgun that Harris, Klebold and Manes used while target shooting was one of the guns used in the Columbine attack. Ransome said Manes had no knowledge that Klebold and Harris planned to go on a killing spree at the school. Manes is expected to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing at 3 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT) Wednesday. At the hearing, his case is expected to be bound over for an arraignment later this year. Another suspect in the case, 22-year-old Phillip Duran, was arrested last week for allegedly acting as a "go-between" in supplying the TEC-DC9. The affidavit says that Duran, who worked with Klebold and Harris at Blackjack Pizza, told an investigator that the pair had approached him three or four months before the massacre about buying a handgun. Duran allegedly introduced Harris and Klebold to Manes at a gun show on January 23, when Manes is said to have shown Harris the TEC-DC9 at a sale price of $500, according to the affidavit. Manes told investigators that Klebold called him that night, then came to his house and bought the gun. Manes took a $300 deposit up front with the rest of the money to be paid later, the affidavit said. It also said he received the rest of the money from Duran, who had gotten the money from Harris and Klebold. SPECIAL SECTION: Are schools safe? RELATED STORIES: Colleague of Columbine shooters arrested RELATED SITES: Columbine High School Information Center
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