Columbine High School massacre
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Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
Location
Columbine, Colorado, U.S.
Date
April 20, 1999
11:19 am – 12:08 pm (UTC-6)
Target
Students and faculty at Columbine High School
Attack type
School shooting, mass murder, massacre, murder-suicide, fire, suicide attack, shootout, attempted bombing, late car explosion
Weapon(s)
Intratec TEC-DC9, Hi-Point 995 Carbine, Savage 67H pump-action shotgun, Stevens 311D double barreled sawed-off shotgun, 99
explosives, 4 knives
Deaths
15 (including both perpetrators)
Injured
21
Perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
Motive
Disputed
The Columbine High School massacre (often known simply as Columbine) was a school shooting which occurred
on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County within the
American State of Colorado. In the school shooting, two senior students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They also injured 21 further students, with three other people being
injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide.
The Columbine High School massacre is the fourth-deadliest mass murder committed upon a school campus in
United States history; after the 1927 Bath School disaster, the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1966 University
of Texas massacre, and remains the deadliest for an American high school.
The massacre sparked debate over gun control laws, the availability of firearms within the United States and gun
violence involving youths. Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques, subcultures and
bullying, in addition to the influence of violent movies and video games in American society. The shooting resulted
in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social outcasts, gun culture, the
use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, teenage Internet use[1] and violent video games.[2][3]
Preliminary activities and intent
Early warning signs began to surface in 1996, when Eric Harris first created a private website on America Online.
Harris had initially created the site to host gaming levels of the video game Doom which he and his friend, Dylan
Klebold, had created, primarily for friends. Upon this site, Harris began a blog, which included jokes and small
journal entries concerning his thoughts on parents, school, and friends. By the end of the year, the site contained
instructions on how to cause mischief, as well as instructions on how to make explosives and logs in which he
described as the trouble he and Klebold were causing. Beginning in early 1997, the blog postings began to show the
first signs of Harris's ever-growing anger against society.[4]
Eric David Harris Dylan Bennett Klebold
Harris's site attracted few visitors, and caused no concern until late 1997, when Klebold gave the web address to
Brooks Brown, a former friend of Harris. Brown's mother had filed numerous complaints with the Jefferson County
Sheriff's office concerning Harris, thinking of him as being dangerous. The website contained numerous death
threats directed against Brown: Klebold somehow knew that if Brooks accessed the address, he would discover the
Columbine High School massacre
content and inform his parents, with their subsequent actions leading to the authorities being notified. Brown's
parents subsequently viewed the content of the site and contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, and an
investigator named Michael Guerra was subsequently notified of the site's existence.[4] Upon accessing Harris's
website site, Guerra discovered numerous violent threats directed against the students and teachers of Columbine
High School. Other material included blurbs Harris had written concerning his general hatred of society, and his
desire to kill those who annoyed him. Harris had begun noting the completion of construction of pipe bombs upon
his site. In addition, he had mentioned a gun count and compiled a hit list of individuals he wished to target
(although no overall plan detailing how he intended to attack targets he had specified was ever posted upon the
site).[5] As Harris had stated upon his website that he was in possession of explosives, Guerra wrote a draft affidavit,
requesting a search warrant of the Harris household, but the document was never filed.[4][6]
On January 30, 1998, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold committed an act of theft in which both stole tools and other
equipment from a van parked near the city of Littleton, Colorado.[7] Both youths were arrested and subsequently
attended a joint court hearing, where they pleaded guilty to the felony theft. The judge sentenced the duo to attend a
juvenile diversion program.
Within the juvenile diversion program, both boys attended mandated classes and conversed with diversion officers.
One of the classes the pair attended focused upon anger management. Harris also began attending therapy classes
with a psychologist. However, despite Klebold having a history of drinking and having failed a dilute urine test,
neither he nor Harris attended any substance abuse classes.[8]
Harris and Klebold were eventually released from diversion several weeks early because of their good actions upon
the program,[4] though both youths still remained on probation.[9] Harris wrote an ingratiating letter to the owner of
the equipment they stole, offering apologies and feigned empathy to the owner for his and Klebold's actions.[10]
Harris would continue to attend scheduled appointments with his psychologist until a few months before he and
Klebold were to commit the Columbine High School massacre.
Shortly after his and Klebold's court hearing, Harris's online blog disappeared, and his website was reverted to its
original purpose of posting user-created levels of the online video game Doom. Harris began to write a paper journal,
where he documented his thoughts and plans. He also boasted in these journal entries that he had faked his
previously written letter of regret to the owner of the van from which he and Klebold had stolen items and applauded
himself as to his deception skills.[11]
Despite having reverted his website to its initially created purpose of hosting video game trivia, Harris continued to
dedicate a section of his website to posting information regarding his and Klebold's progress regarding their
collection of guns and building of the bombs they subsequently used in the attack upon their school. (After the
existence of this website was made public, AOL permanently deleted the website from its servers.)[12]
Medication
In one of his scheduled meetings with his psychiatrist, Eric Harris complained of depression, anger and to possessing
suicidal thoughts. As a result of this, he was prescribed the anti-depressant Zoloft. He subsequently complained to
feeling restless and to experiencing a lack of concentration to his doctor, and in April, he was switched to a similar
anti-depressant drug— Luvox.[13] At the time of his death, Harris had therapeutic Luvox levels in his system. Some
analysts, such as psychiatrist Peter Breggin, have argued that one or both of these medications may have contributed
to Harris's actions. Breggin claimed that side-effects of these drugs include increased aggression, loss of remorse,
depersonalization, and mania.[14] A subsequent study conducted by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices
identified Luvox as being 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be associated with violence.[15]
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Columbine High School massacre
Journals and videos
Harris and Klebold both began keeping journals of their progress soon after their arrests. The pair documented their
arsenal with video tapes that were kept secret.[4][16]
Journal entries reveal that the pair had formulated an elaborate plan for a major bombing rivaling the Oklahoma City
bombing. The entries contained blurbs about ways to escape to Mexico, hijacking an aircraft at Denver International
Airport and crashing into a building in New York City, as well as details about the attacks. The pair hoped that after
setting off home-made explosives in the cafeteria at the busiest time of day, killing many hundreds of students, they
would use their guns to shoot survivors as they fled from the school. Then, as police vehicles, ambulances, fire
trucks, and reporters came to the school, bombs set in the boys' cars would detonate, killing the emergency
personnel, media, and law enforcement officers; this original plan backfired when the explosives did not
detonate.[4][17] The pair kept videos that documented the explosives, ammunition, and weapons they had obtained
illegally. In these videos, the shooters revealed all the elaborate and creative ways the two had thought up to hide
their arsenals in their own homes, as well as the ways they would deceive their parents about their activities. Some
videos contained footage of the pair doing target practice in nearby foothills, as well as shots of the areas of the high
school they planned to attack.[4] On April 20, approximately thirty minutes before the attack,[18] a final video had the
pair saying goodbye and apologizing to their friends and families.
Firearms
In the months prior to the attacks, Harris and Klebold acquired two 9 mm firearms and two 12-gauge shotguns. A
rifle and the two shotguns were bought by a friend named Robyn Anderson at the Tanner Gun Show in December
1998.[19] Through a friend named Robert Duran, Harris and Klebold later bought a handgun from an individual
named Mark Manes for $500.
Using instructions acquired upon the Internet, Harris and Klebold constructed a total of 99 improvised explosive
devices of various designs and sizes. They sawed the barrels and butts off their shotguns to make them easier to
conceal.[4] The perpetrators committed numerous felony violations of state and federal law, including the National
Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act of 1968, even before the massacre began.
On April 20, Harris was equipped with a 12-gauge Savage-Springfield 67H pump-action shotgun, (which he
discharged a total of 25 times) and a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9 mm carbine with thirteen 10-round magazines, which
he fired a total of 96 times.
Klebold was equipped with a 9 mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun with one 52-, one 32-, and one
28-round magazine and a 12-gauge Stevens 311D double-barreled sawed-off shotgun. Klebold was to fire primarily
the TEC-9 handgun: this weapon was to be fired 55 times in total.
April 20, 1999: The massacre
On the morning of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had placed a small fire bomb in a field
located approximately one mile away from Columbine High School. This bomb was set to explode at 11:14 a.m.,
and is thought to have been placed in this location as a diversion for emergency personnel. (The bomb did partially
detonate, causing a small fire which was extinguished by the fire department.)
At 11:10 a.m.[20] Harris and Klebold arrived at Columbine High School separately. Harris parked his vehicle in the
Junior student parking lot and Klebold in the Senior student parking lot. From these locations, both youths possessed
excellent views of the school cafeteria's side entrance, and each youth had initially intended to open fire upon
students fleeing the school through the main entrances when bombs they intended to place inside the cafeteria
detonated, with each shooter positioned to cover a main exit of the school and open fire on fleeing students.
Upon their arrival at Columbine, the duo met near Harris's car and armed two 20 pound (9 kg) propane bombs before
entering the cafeteria a few minutes prior to the beginning of the A lunch shift. The youths placed the duffel bags
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4
containing the bombs—set to explode at approximately 11:17 a.m.[4]—inside the cafeteria before returning to their
vehicles to await the explosion of the bombs they had planted.
The act of planting the bombs inside the cafeteria was not noted by security staff at Columbine due to the fact that as
the duo entered the cafeteria, the school security video tape was replaced by a custodian. Though the act of placing
the bombs was not recorded on the school's security tape, the bags were clearly visible upon the fresh security tape.
As the two youths returned to their vehicles, Harris encountered Brooks Brown, a classmate with whom he had
recently patched up a longstanding series of disagreements. Brown was surprised to see Harris exiting his vehicle
with a gym bag, commenting that he had been absent from an important class test that morning, but Harris seemed
unconcerned, commenting "It doesn't matter anymore." Harris then warned him: "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of
here. Go home." Brown, feeling uneasy, walked away.[21] Several minutes later, students departing Columbine for
their lunch break observed Brown heading down South Pierce Street away from the school. Meanwhile, Harris and
Klebold armed themselves by their vehicles and waited for the bombs to explode.
Shooting begins
When the cafeteria bombs failed to explode, Harris and Klebold armed themselves with their weapons, convened and
walked towards the school. They first walked to the top of the West Entrance steps (the highest point of the campus).
From this vantage point, the cafeteria's side entrance was located at the bottom of the staircase, with the school's
main West Entrance located to the left and the athletic fields to the right. Klebold and Harris then threw a pipe bomb,
which exploded.
Injuries and deaths in initial incident
1. Rachel Scott, age 17. Killed by shots to the head, torso and leg alongside the West Entrance of the school.
2. Richard Castaldo, age 17. Shot in the arm, chest, back and abdomen alongside the West Entrance to the school.
3. Daniel Rohrbough, age 15. Killed by a shot to the chest at the base of the West Staircase.
4. Sean Graves, age 15. Shot in the back, foot and abdomen on the West Staircase.
5. Lance Kirklin, age 16. Critically injured by shots to the leg, neck and jaw on the West Staircase.
6. Michael Johnson, age 15. Shot in the face, arm and leg to the west of the staircase.
7. Mark Taylor, age 16. Shot in the chest, arms and leg to the west of the staircase.
8. Anne-Marie Hochhalter, age 17. Shot in the chest, arm, abdomen, back, and left leg near the cafeteria's entrance.
9. Brian Anderson, age 16. Injured near the West Entrance by flying glass.
10. Patti Nielson, age 35. Hit in the shoulder by shrapnel near the West Entrance.
11. Stephanie Munson, age 16. Shot in the ankle inside the North Hallway.
12. William David Sanders, age 47. Died of blood loss after being shot in the neck and back inside the South Hallway.
At 11:19 a.m., a witness heard Eric Harris yell "Go! Go!" At that moment, the two gunmen pulled out their guns
from beneath their trenchcoats and Harris immediately began shooting with his 9 mm semi-automatic carbine at two
17-year-old students who had been sitting upon a grassy knoll next to the West Entrance of the school. One of these
students, Rachel Scott, was hit four times and killed instantly. The other student the duo fired on, Richard Castaldo,
was shot eight times in the chest, arm and abdomen and partially paralyzed.[4] It is unknown who fired first or which
gunman shot and killed Scott. Many rumors subsequently surfaced regarding the cause of the rampage, including the
possible targeting of Christians. One such rumor regarding the murder of Rachel Scott was that the shooters had first
asked Scott if she believed in God, then killed her after she answered affirmatively. The FBI later concluded that this
interaction did not take place.[9]
After shooting Scott and Castaldo, Harris removed his trench coat and aimed his 9 mm carbine down the West
Staircase towards three youths: 15-year-olds Daniel Rohrbough and Sean Graves and 16-year-old Lance Kirklin. The
Columbine High School massacre
three friends had been ascending the staircase directly below the shooters. Kirklin later reported seeing Klebold and
Harris standing at the top of the staircase, before opening fire. All three youths were shot and wounded. Harris and
Klebold then turned and began shooting south in the direction of five students sitting upon a grassy knoll adjacent to
the steps and opposite the West Entrance of the school. One youth, 15-year-old Michael Johnson, was hit in the face,
leg and arm, yet managed to continue running and escaped; another youth, 16-year-old Mark Taylor, was shot in the
chest, arms and leg and fell to the ground, where he feigned death. The other three escaped uninjured. Klebold then
walked down the steps towards the cafeteria. As he descended, he shot Lance Kirklin once more in the face, critically
wounding him. Daniel Rohrbough and Sean Graves had descended the staircase as Klebold and Harris's attention had
been diverted by the students upon the knoll; Graves had collapsed in front of the door to the cafeteria's side
entrance; Rohrbough, who had been shot in the leg and abdomen, had descended the staircase. Klebold walked
towards Rohrbough and shot him through the upper left chest at close range, killing him. He then continued down
the staircase and entered the cafeteria, walking over the injured Sean Graves as he did so. It is speculated that
Klebold entered the cafeteria to check why the propane bombs had failed to explode. As Klebold entered the
cafeteria, Harris began to shoot down the steps at several students sitting near the cafeteria's entrance, severely
wounding and partially paralyzing 17-year-old Anne-Marie Hochhalter[22] as she attempted to flee, before Klebold
exited the cafeteria and ascended the staircase to meet Harris.
The two youths then shot in the direction of students standing close to a soccer field, but did not hit anyone. They
then made their way towards the West Entrance, throwing pipe bombs as they did so— none of which detonated.[4]
Inside the campus, a teacher named Patti Nielson, having noted the commotion, walked towards the West Entrance
with a 16-year-old student named Brian Anderson. Nielson had intended to walk outside to tell the two students to
"Knock it off,"[23] believing Klebold and Harris were either filming a video or pulling a student prank. As Anderson
opened the first set of double doors, Harris and Klebold shot out the windows, injuring him with flying glass.
Nielson was hit in the shoulder from shrapnel. Reacting in fear, Nielson stood and ran down the hall into the library,
alerting the students inside to the danger and demanding they duck underneath desks and remain silent. Nielson then
dialed 9-1-1 and concealed herself underneath the library's administrative counter.[4] Brian Anderson remained
behind, caught between the exterior and interior doors.
Soon thereafter, at approximately 11:24 a.m., a Jefferson County deputy sheriff arrived at the scene and began
shooting at Harris and Klebold, distracting them from the injured Brian Anderson.[4] (Anderson subsequently
escaped to the library where he concealed himself inside an open staff break room.) Harris fired a total of ten shots at
the officer, who then reported a Code 33 (officer in need of emergency assistance) to his colleagues. When his gun
ran out of ammunition, Harris ran inside the school with Klebold. The duo then proceeded down the main North
Hallway, throwing pipe bombs and shooting at any individual they encountered. In the course of walking down the
main North Hallway, a 17-year-old girl named Stephanie Munson was shot in the ankle, although she was able to
walk out of the school. The duo then shot out the windows to the East Entrance of the school. After proceeding
through the hall several times and shooting towards—and missing—any students they saw, Harris and Klebold
proceeded towards the West Entrance and turned into the Library Hallway.
Moments prior to Klebold having previously entered the cafeteria, Coach William David Sanders had evacuated the
school cafeteria via a staircase leading up to the second floor of the school.[4] This staircase was located around the
corner from the Library Hallway in the main South Hallway. (It is believed, but not confirmed, that having evacuated
the cafeteria, Sanders was rushing towards the library to evacuate the students concealed there when he encountered
Harris and Klebold.) As Sanders and a student walked down the Library Hallway, the pair were confronted by both
Harris and Klebold, who were themselves approaching from the corner of the North Hallway. Sanders and the
student both turned around and ran in the opposite direction.[24] Harris and Klebold shot at both Sanders and the
student, hitting Sanders twice in the chest as he reached the South Hallway, but missing the student. This student
then ran into a science classroom where he alerted those present to conceal themselves. As the student fled, Harris
and Klebold returned up the North Hallway. Dave Sanders subsequently struggled towards the science area, where a
teacher took him into the science classroom where approximately 30 students were located. A handwritten sign was
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6
soon placed in the window reading: "1 bleeding to death," in order to alert police and medical personnel of Sanders'
location. Two students within the classroom administered first aid and attempted to control blood loss with shirts
from the male students in the room. A teacher and several students also remained in contact with police outside of
the school using a phone in the classroom. All the students in this room were subsequently evacuated safely, but
Sanders died at approximately 3:00 p.m.[4] He was the only teacher killed in the school shooting.
Library massacre
As the shooting unfolded, Patti Nielson talked on the phone with emergency services, recounting her experience and
urging students to take cover beneath desks.[4] According to transcripts, her call was received by a 9-1-1 operator at
11:25:05 a.m. The time period between the call being answered and the shooters entering the library was four
minutes and ten seconds. Before entering, the shooters threw two bombs into the cafeteria from the staircase in the
South Hallway, both of which exploded. They then threw a further bomb in the Library Hallway, which also
exploded, damaging several lockers. At 11:29 a.m., Harris and Klebold entered the library, where a total of 52
students, two teachers and two librarians had concealed themselves.[4]
As the shooters approached the library, Harris yelled for everyone to "Get up!" in a tone so loud that he can be heard
on Patti Nielson's 9-1-1 recording at 11:29:18.[25] This expression by Harris was immediately followed by Klebold
yelling "Everybody get up!" Staff and students hiding in the library exterior rooms later stated they also heard the
gunmen utter such statements as: "Everyone with white hats, stand up! This is for all the shit that you've given us for
the past four years!" and: "All jocks stand up! We'll get the guys in white hats!" (Wearing a white baseball cap at
Columbine was a tradition amongst sports team members.)[4] When no one stood up in response, Harris was then
heard to say: "Fine, I'll start shooting anyway!" He first fired his shotgun twice at a desk, not knowing that a student
named Evan Todd was hiding beneath it. Todd was hit by wood splinters from the desk, but was not seriously
injured. The shooters then made their way towards the opposite side of the library, to two rows of computers. Todd
used the time to conceal himself behind the administrative counter. A 16-year-old student named Kyle Velasquez
was sitting at the north—or upper—row of computers; police later said Velasquez had not hidden underneath the
desk when Klebold and Harris had first entered the library, but that he had curled up underneath the computer table.
Klebold shot Velasquez, hitting him in the head and back, killing him. Klebold and Harris then placed down their
ammunition-filled duffel bags at the south—or lower—row of computers and reloaded their weapons. They then
walked back towards the windows facing the outside staircase. Noticing police evacuating students outside the
school, Harris stated: "Let's go kill some cops." He and Klebold then began to shoot out the windows of the library
and in the direction of the police, who returned fire.
Injuries and deaths in the library
13. Evan Todd, age 15. Sustained minor injuries from the splintering of a desk he was hiding under.
14. Kyle Velasquez, age 16. Killed by gunshot wounds to the head and back.
15. Patrick Ireland, age 17. Shot in the arm, leg, head and foot.
16. Daniel Steepleton, age, 17. Shot in the thigh.
17. Makai Hall, age 18. Shot in the knee.
18. Steven Curnow, age 14. Killed by a shot to the neck.
19. Kacey Ruegsegger, age 17. Shot in the hand, arm and shoulder.
20. Cassie Bernall, age 17. Killed by a shotgun wound to the head.
21. Isaiah Shoels, age 18. Killed by a shot to the chest.
22. Matthew Kechter, age 16. Killed by a shot to the chest.
23. Lisa Kreutz, age 18. Shot in the shoulder, hand, arms and thigh.
24. Valeen Schnurr, age 18. Injured with wounds to the chest, arms and abdomen.
Columbine High School massacre
25. Mark Kintgen, age 17. Shot in the head and shoulder.
26. Lauren Townsend, age 18. Killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest and lower body.
27. Nicole Nowlen, age 16. Shot in the abdomen.
28. John Tomlin, age 16. Killed by multiple shots to the head and neck.
29. Kelly Fleming, age 16. Killed by a shotgun wound to the back.
30. Jeanna Park, age 18. Shot in the knee, shoulder and foot.
31. Daniel Mauser, age 15. Killed by a single shot to the face.
32. Jennifer Doyle, age 17. Shot in the hand, leg and shoulder.
33. Austin Eubanks, age 17. Shot in the head and knee.
34. Corey DePooter, age 17. Killed by shots to the chest and neck.
After firing at police and evacuating students, Klebold turned his attention away from the windows and fired his
shotgun at a nearby table, injuring three students named Patrick Ireland, Daniel Steepleton, and Makai Hall.[4] He
then removed his trench coat. As Klebold fired at Ireland, Steepleton and Hall, Harris grabbed his shotgun and
walked towards the lower row of computer desks, firing a single shot from his gun underneath the first desk in the
row without looking to see if anyone was hiding underneath the desk. This shot hit 14-year-old Steven Curnow,
causing a fatal wound to his neck. Harris then shot underneath the adjacent computer desk, injuring 17-year-old
Kacey Ruegsegger in the hand, arm and shoulder.
Harris then walked over to the table across from the lower computer row, slapped the surface twice with his hand
before kneeling and saying "peek-a-boo" to 17-year-old Cassie Bernall, before shooting her in the head. As Harris
had been holding the shotgun with one hand when he fired, the recoil from the weapon hit his face, breaking his
nose. Although one witness reported that Bernall was the student who was asked: "Do you believe in God?", the
exchange occurred between Klebold and a surviving student named Valeen Schnurr. Three students who witnessed
Bernall's death, including the person who was hiding underneath the table with her, have testified that Klebold and
Bernall did not exchange words.[26] Though some students who were in the library asserted the exchange did occur,
none of them actually witnessed it. These students may have heard the subsequent exchange between Klebold and
Schnurr, and have been misled by news reports attributing the words to Bernall.[27]
After fatally shooting Bernall, Harris turned his attention towards the next table, where a student named Bree
Pasquale had sat next to the table rather than underneath it. Pasquale had not hidden underneath the desk since there
was insufficient space for her to hide. Harris asked Pasquale if she wanted to die, and the girl responded with a plea
for her life. Witnesses later reported that at this time, Harris seemed disoriented — possibly from the heavily
bleeding wound to his face. As Harris taunted Pasquale, Klebold noted one of the three students he had previously
wounded — 17-year-old Patrick Ireland — attempting to provide aid to Makai Hall, who had suffered a wound to
his knee. As Ireland attempted to aid Hall, his head rose above the table and into Klebold's view. Klebold shot
Ireland a second time, hitting him twice in the head and once in the foot.[4] Ireland was knocked unconscious, but
survived.
Klebold then proceeded toward another set of tables, where he discovered 18-year-old Isaiah Shoels and
16-year-olds Matthew Kechter and Craig Scott (the younger brother of Rachel Scott), hiding underneath one table.
All three youths were popular athletes at the school. Klebold unsuccessfully attempted to pull Isaiah out from
underneath the table. He then called to Harris, shouting "Reb! There's a nigger over here". Harris left Bree Pasquale
and joined him. Klebold and Harris taunted Shoels for a few seconds, making derogatory racial comments towards
him.[4] Harris then knelt down and shot Shoels once in the chest at close range, killing him. Klebold also knelt down
and opened fire, hitting and killing Matthew Kechter. Craig Scott remained uninjured; he lay in the blood of his
friends, feigning death.[4] Harris turned and threw a CO2 bomb at the table where Hall, Steepleton, and Ireland were
located. This bomb landed on the thigh of Daniel Steepleton. Makai Hall immediately grabbed the bomb and threw it
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south (away from the shooters).
Harris then walked toward the bookcases between the west and center section of tables in the library. He jumped on
one of the bookcases and shook it, then shot in an unknown direction within that general area. (It is unknown what
Harris shot at, as no one could see him at the time.) Klebold then walked through the main area, past the first set of
bookcases, the central desk area and a second set of bookcases into the east area as Harris walked from the bookcase
he had shot from, past the central area to where he met with Klebold. Klebold then shot towards a display case
located next to the door, then turned and shot towards the closest table to him, hitting and injuring 17-year-old Mark
Kintgen in the head and shoulder. He then turned towards the table located to his left and fired, injuring 18-year-olds
Lisa Kreutz and Valeen Schnurr with the same shotgun bullet, before he approached the same table and fired with
the TEC-9, killing 18-year-old Lauren Townsend.
As Klebold shot and killed Townsend and injured Schnurr, Kreutz and Kintgen, Harris approached another table
where two girls had hidden. He bent down to look at them and dismissed them as "pathetic".[28] The two shooters
then approached an empty table where they again reloaded their weapons. Schnurr, who had been badly wounded by
both gunshot wounds and shrapnel,[29] began to cry out, "Oh, God help me!" In response, Klebold approached her
and asked her if she believed in God. Schnurr floundered in her answer; first replying "no" and then "yes", in an
attempt to appease Klebold. Klebold then asked her why; whereupon Schnurr replied that it was because it was what
her family believed. He taunted her, reloaded his shotgun, then walked away. The slightly injured Evan Todd also
reported that at this point, Klebold had also said: "God is gay." (The exchange between Schnurr and Klebold was
subsequently, and incorrectly, attributed to the verbal exchange between Harris and Cassie Bernall.)
Harris then moved to another table where he fired twice, injuring 16-year-olds Nicole Nowlen and John Tomlin.
When Tomlin attempted to move away from the table, Klebold kicked him. Harris then taunted Tomlin's attempt at
escape before Klebold shot the youth repeatedly, killing him. Harris then walked back over to the other side of the
table where Lauren Townsend lay dead. Behind the table, a 16-year-old girl named Kelly Fleming had, like Bree
Pasquale, sat next to the table rather than beneath it due to a lack of space. Harris shot Fleming with his shotgun,
hitting her in the back and killing her instantly. He then shot at the table behind Fleming, hitting both Townsend and
Kreutz again and wounding 18-year-old Jeanna Park. An autopsy later revealed that Townsend had been killed by
the gunshots Klebold had earlier inflicted.
At 11:37 a.m., the shooters moved to the center of the library, where they continued to reload their weapons at a
table located midway across the room. Harris then noticed a student hiding nearby and asked him to identify himself.
This student was John Savage, an acquaintance of Klebold's. Savage stated his name and asked Klebold what they
were doing, to which Klebold replied: "Oh, just killing people." Savage then asked if they were going to kill him.
Possibly due to the sound of the fire alarm, Klebold initially replied: "What?" Savage then asked again whether they
were going to kill him. Klebold hesitated, then told him to leave the library. Savage fled immediately, and escaped
through the library's main entrance.
After Savage had fled the library, Harris turned and fired his carbine at the table directly north of where they'd been,
grazing the ear of a 15-year-old named Daniel Mauser. Harris fired again and hit Mauser in the nose at close range
and killing him. Both shooters then moved south from this location and fired randomly underneath another table,
critically injuring two 17-year-olds named Jennifer Doyle and Austin Eubanks and fatally wounding another
17-year-old named Corey DePooter. DePooter, the last fatality of the massacre, was later credited with keeping his
friends calm during the ordeal.
At this point, several witnesses later stated they heard both Harris and Klebold comment upon how they no longer
found a thrill in shooting their victims. Klebold was quoted as having said, "Maybe we should start knifing people,
that might be more fun." (Both youths had been equipped with knives.) Klebold and Harris then moved away from
the table and headed toward the library's main counter. Harris threw a Molotov cocktail toward the southwestern end
of the library as he went, but this device failed to explode. Harris then came around the east side of the counter and
Klebold joined him from the west; they converged close to where Evan Todd had moved after having been wounded
8
Columbine High School massacre
by splinters after having previously hidden underneath a photocopy machine. Harris and Klebold mocked Todd, who
was wearing a white hat signifying that he was a jock. When the shooters demanded to see his face, Todd partly
lifted his hat so his face would remain obscured. Klebold asked Todd to give him one reason why he should not kill
him, whereupon Todd replied: "I don't want trouble," to which Klebold replied: "You [Todd] used to call me a fag.
Who's a fag now?!" The shooters continued to taunt Todd and debated killing him, but they eventually walked away.
At this point, Harris's nose was still bleeding heavily, which may have caused him to decide to leave the library.
Klebold then turned and fired a single shot into an open library staff break room, hitting a small television. He then
slammed a chair down on top of the computer terminal upon the library counter, directly above the bureau where
Patti Nielson had hidden.
The two then walked out of the library at 11:42 a.m., ending the massacre.
Almost immediately, 34 uninjured and 10 injured students evacuated the
room through the north door, which led out to the sidewalk adjacent to the
west entrance, where the rampage had begun. Patrick Ireland, who had been
knocked unconscious, and Lisa Kreutz, who was unable to move, remained
in the building. Patti Nielson joined Brian Anderson and the three library
staff in the exterior break room, into which Klebold had earlier fired shots.
They locked themselves in and remained there until they were freed, at
approximately 3:30 p.m.
Suicide of the perpetrators
After leaving the library, Harris and Klebold entered the science area of the
An FBI diagram of the library at
school, where they threw a small fire bomb into an empty storage closet,
Columbine High School, depicting the
causing a fire which was subsequently extinguished by a teacher who had
location of the fatalities
hidden in an adjacent room. The duo then proceeded toward the south
hallway, where they shot into an empty science room at the end of the hall. At approximately 11:44 a.m. Harris and
Klebold were captured on the school security cameras as they re-entered the cafeteria.[4] The recording shows Harris
kneeling on the landing and firing a single shot towards one of the propane bombs he and Klebold had earlier left in
the cafeteria in an unsuccessful attempt to detonate it. He then took a sip from one of the drinks left behind by a
fleeing student as Klebold approached the propane bomb and examined it. The recording then shows Klebold
lighting a Molotov cocktail and throwing it at the propane bomb. As the two left the cafeteria, the Molotov cocktail
exploded, partially detonating one of the propane bombs at 11:46 a.m.[30] Two minutes later, approximately one
gallon of fuel ignited in the same vicinity, causing a fire that was extinguished by the fire sprinklers.[31]
After leaving the cafeteria, the duo returned to the main north and south hallways of the school, shooting aimlessly.
Harris and Klebold then walked through the south hallway into the main office before returning to the north hallway.
On several occasions, the pair looked through the windows of classroom doors, making eye contact with students
concealed inside, but neither Harris nor Klebold attempted to enter any of the rooms. After leaving the main office,
Harris and Klebold walked towards a bathroom entrance, where they taunted students who had hidden inside,
making such comments as: "We know you're in there" and "Let's kill anyone we find in here." Again neither
attempted to enter the bathroom. At 11:55 a.m., the two returned to the cafeteria where they briefly entered the
school kitchen, only to return back up the staircase and into the south hallway at 11:58 a.m.
9
Columbine High School massacre
10
Suicide of perpetrators
35. Eric Harris, age 18. Committed suicide by a single shot to the mouth.
36. Dylan Klebold, age 17. Committed suicide by a single shot to the head.
At 12:02 p.m., Harris and Klebold re-entered the library, which was now empty of all living students except for the
unconscious Patrick Ireland and the injured Lisa Kreutz. Once inside, they again shot at police through the west
windows, but to no avail.
At approximately 12:08 p.m, Patti Nielson, who had locked herself inside a break room with a student and library
staff, overheard Harris and Klebold suddenly shout in unison: "One! Two! Three!" These words were immediately
followed by the sound of gunfire.[32] Both had committed suicide: Harris by firing his shotgun through the roof of
his mouth; Klebold by shooting himself in the left temple with his TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun.
Patrick Ireland had regained and lost consciousness several times after being shot by Klebold. He had managed to
crawl to the library windows where, at 2:38 p.m., Ireland reached out of the windows, falling into the arms of two
SWAT team members standing on the roof of an emergency vehicle. These SWAT team members were later
criticized for allowing Ireland's body to then drop over seven feet to the ground, while doing nothing to attempt to
assure he could be lowered to the ground safely or break his fall. 18-year-old Lisa Kreutz, who had been shot in her
shoulder, arms, hand and thigh, remained injured in the library. In a subsequent interview, Kreutz recalled hearing a
statement similar to "You in the library" around the time of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's suicide. Kreutz lay
injured in the library, keeping track of time by the sound of the school's bells, until police arrived. She had tried to
move from where she lay, but became light-headed.[4] She was evacuated, along with Ms. Nielson, Brian Anderson
and the three library staff who had concealed themselves in the break room, at 3:22 p.m.
Shooting ends
By noon, SWAT teams were stationed outside the school, and ambulances started taking the wounded to local
hospitals. Meanwhile, families of students and staff at the school were asked to gather at nearby Leawood
Elementary School to await information.
A call for additional ammunition for police officers in case of a shootout came at 12:20 p.m. The killers had ceased
shooting just minutes earlier. Authorities reported pipe bombs by 1:00 p.m., and two SWAT teams entered the
school at 1:09 p.m., moving from classroom to classroom, discovering hidden students and faculty.[4] All students,
teachers, and school employees were taken away, questioned, and then offered medical care in small holding areas
before being bussed to meet with their family members at Leawood Elementary. Officials found the bodies in the
library by 3:30 p.m.[33]
By 4:00 p.m. the sheriff made an initial estimate of 25 dead students and teachers. The estimate was ten over the true
count, but close to the total count of wounded students. He stated that police officers were searching the bodies of
Harris and Klebold. At 4:30 p.m. the school was declared safe. At 5:30 p.m. additional officers were called in, as
more explosives were found in the parking lot and on the roof. By 6:15 p.m., officials had found a bomb in Klebold's
car in the parking lot. The sheriff decided to mark the entire school as a crime scene; thirteen of the dead, including
the shooters, were still inside the school at the time. At 10:45 p.m. the bomb in the car detonated when an officer
tried to defuse it. The car was damaged, but no one was injured.
In the end, twelve students and one teacher were killed; twenty-four other students were injured as a direct result of
the massacre. Three more were injured indirectly as they attempted to escape the school. Harris and Klebold are
thought to have committed suicide about forty-five minutes after the massacre began.
Columbine High School massacre
Immediate aftermath
On April 21 bomb squads combed the high school. At 10:00 a.m., the bomb squad declared the building safe for
officials to enter. By 11:30 a.m., a spokesman of the sheriff declared the investigation underway. Thirteen of the
bodies were still inside the high school as investigators photographed the building.
At 2:30 p.m., a press conference was held by Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas and Sheriff John
Stone, at which they said that they suspected others had helped plan the shooting. Formal identification of the dead
had not yet taken place, but families of the children thought to have been killed had already been notified.
Throughout the late afternoon and early evening, the bodies were gradually removed from the school and taken to
the Jefferson County Coroner's Office to be identified and autopsied. By 5:00 p.m., the names of many of the dead
were known. An official statement was released, stating that there were 15 confirmed deaths and 27 injuries related
to the massacre.
On April 30 high-ranking officials of Jefferson County and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office met to decide if
they should reveal that Michael Guerra, a Sheriff's Office detective, had drafted an affidavit for a search warrant of
Harris's residence a year before the shootings, based on his previous investigation of Harris's website and activities.
They decided not to disclose this information at a press conference held on April 30, nor did they mention it in any
other way. Over the next two years, Guerra's original draft and investigative file documents were lost. Their loss was
termed "troubling" by a Grand Jury convened after the file's existence was reported in April 2001.[34]
In the months following the shooting, considerable media attention focused upon Cassie Bernall, who had been
killed by Eric Harris in the library and who Harris was reported to have asked "Do you believe in God?" immediately
prior to her murder. Bernall was reported to have responded "Yes" before being killed. Valeen Schnurr claims that
this exchange was with her, and Emily Wyant, the only living witness to Bernall's death, confirms that Bernall did
not have this discussion. Bernall and Rachel Scott were regarded as Christian martyrs by Evangelical Christians.[35]
The official investigation attributed the statement to survivor Valeen Schnurr.[36] Despite this conclusion, student
witness Joshua Lapp maintains that it was Cassie Bernall who was asked about her beliefs and responded "yes"
before being shot. However, Lapp was unable to correctly point out the where Bernall was located, and was himself
closer to Schnurr during the shootings. Another witness, Craig Scott, whose sister Rachel Scott was also portrayed as
a Christian martyr, claimed that the discussion was with Cassie Bernall. When asked to point to where he heard the
conversation coming from, he pointed to where Schnurr was shot.
The search for rationale
In the aftermath, a great deal of speculation occurred about the killers' motivation and whether anything could have
prevented the crime. Unlike many previous school shootings, the fact that both shooters committed suicide made the
Columbine High School massacre particularly difficult to assess.
In their investigation into how Harris and Klebold had acquired their firearms, police did learn the pair had acquired
one of the weapons used through a friend named Mark Manes. Manes and another individual, Philip Duran, who had
introduced the duo to Manes,[37] were eventually prosecuted for their roles in supplying guns to Harris and
Klebold.[38] Each was charged with supplying a handgun to a minor and possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Manes
and Duran were sentenced to a total of six years and four-and-a-half years in prison respectively.[39]
Bullying
The link between bullying and school violence has attracted increasing attention since the 1999 attack at Colorado's
Columbine High School. Both of the shooters were classified as gifted children and had allegedly been victims of
bullying for four years. A year later, an analysis by officials at the US Secret Service of 37 premeditated school
shootings found that bullying, which some of the shooters described "in terms that approached torment," played the
major role in more than two-thirds of the attacks.[40] A similar theory was expounded by Brooks Brown in his book
11
Columbine High School massacre
on the massacre; he noted that teachers commonly looked the other way when confronted with bullying.[21]
Early stories following the shootings charged that school administrators and teachers at Columbine had long
condoned a climate of bullying by the so-called jocks or athletes, allowing an atmosphere of outright intimidation
and resentment to fester which, they claimed, could have helped trigger the perpetrators' extreme violence.[41]
Reportedly, homophobic remarks were directed at Klebold and Harris.[42]
One author has strongly disputed the theory of "revenge for bullying" as a motivation for the actions of Harris and
Klebold: David Cullen, author of the 2009 book Columbine, while acknowledging the pervasiveness of bullying in
high schools including Columbine, has claimed that the two were not actually victims of bullying. Indeed, Cullen
claims Harris in particular was more of a perpetrator of bullying than a victim.[43]
Psychopathy and depression
In July 1999 the FBI organized a major summit on school shooters in Leesburg, Virginia. Attending were
psychologists, psychiatrists, and representatives from recent school shootings, including a large Columbine
contingent. Attorney General Janet Reno was in attendance. The FBI eventually published a major report on school
shooters, though it steered clear of pinpointing the causes of any individual case.[44]
On the fifth anniversary of Columbine, the FBI's lead Columbine investigator and several psychiatrists went public
with their conclusions in a news article.[45] There they argued Harris was a clinical psychopath and Klebold was
depressive. They believed the plan was masterminded by Harris, who they thought had a messianic-level superiority
complex and hoped to illustrate his massive superiority to the world.
The attack on Columbine High School was the culmination of more than a year of planning, firearms acquisition,
and bomb building. Harris's journals, in particular, show methodical preparation over a long period of time,
including several experimental bomb detonations.[46][47] The massacre was anything but a failure of impulse control.
Video games
A US psychiatrist named Jerald Block has differed with the FBI opinion of psychopathology and depression, arguing
that the killers' actions are not well explained by such diagnoses. Rather, he states that Klebold and Harris were
immersed in video games and that their lives were most gratifying while playing in a virtual world.
Both Harris and Klebold were fans of video games such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Harris often created levels for
Doom that were widely distributed; these can still be found on the Internet as the Harris levels. Rumors that the
layout of these levels resembled that of Columbine High School circulated, but appear to be untrue.[48] Harris spent a
great deal of time creating another large mod, named Tier, calling it his "life's work."[49] The mod was uploaded to
the Columbine school computer and to AOL shortly before the attack, but appears to have been lost. One researcher
argued that it is almost certain the Tier mod included a mock-up of Columbine High School.[8]
Following their January 1998 arrest for theft, the computer access available to both youths was restricted. Jerald
Block believes that personal anger which was initially projected into video games was now unleashed into the real
world. In addition, the restriction of access to computers opened up substantial amounts of idle time that would have
otherwise gone towards their online activities. Block stated Harris and Klebold increasingly used this free time time
to express their anger, with their antisocial tendencies likewise increasing. This, in turn, generated further
restrictions. Ultimately, after the 1998 arrest and their being banned from personal computer access for
approximately one month, the two teens became homicidal and began documenting plans to attack the school. Block
writes that the plan to attack the school first appears in Klebold's writings, and that Klebold may himself have
considered using a different partner-in-crime than Harris. This person's name was redacted from Klebold's journal by
police.[8]
Some analysts have argued that part of the killers' problem may have been desensitization due to their constant
exposure to violent imagery in video games, music and movies, theorizing that their obsession with these forms of
12
Columbine High School massacre
13
media may have led them to depersonalization. American news media compared the massacre to a fantasy sequence
from the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries, in which protagonist Leonardo DiCaprio wears a black trench coat and
shoots six classmates in his school's hallways. Several unsuccessful lawsuits against video game manufacturers were
filed as a result by parents of some of the victims.[50][51] Harris and Klebold were fans of the movie Natural Born
Killers, and used the film's acronym, NBK, as a code in their home videos and journals.[8]
Other factors explored
Social climate
A frequent topic of discussion during and after the initial investigations was social cliques within high schools. One
perception formed was that both Klebold and Harris had been isolated from their classmates, which may have
prompted feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and depression, as well as a strong need for attention. This concept has
been questioned, as both Harris and Klebold had a close circle of friends and a wider informal social group.[38]
Goth subculture
In the weeks following the Columbine shootings, media reports upon Harris and Klebold portrayed the duo as being
part of a Gothic cult. As a result of this media attention, an increased suspicion of Gothic subculture subsequently
manifested.[52] Harris and Klebold had initially been thought to be members of "The Trenchcoat Mafia;" an informal
club within Columbine High School. Later, such characterizations were considered incorrect.[53]
Music
Blame for the shootings was directed on a number of metal or 'dark music' bands such as KMFDM and
Rammstein.[54] The majority of that blame was directed at Marilyn Manson and his eponymous band.[55][56] After
being linked by news outlets and pundits with sensationalist headlines such as "Killers Worshipped Rock Freak
Manson" and "Devil-Worshipping Maniac Told Kids To Kill,"[57][58] many came to believe that Manson's music and
imagery were, indeed, Harris and Klebold's sole motivation,[59] despite later reports that the two were not fans.[60][61]
In the immediate aftermath, the band canceled the remaining North American dates of their Rock is Dead Tour out of
respect for the victims, while steadfastly maintaining that music, movies, books or video games were not to blame.
Manson stated:[62][63][64][65]
“
The [news] media has unfairly scapegoated the music industry and so-called Goth kids and has speculated, with no basis in truth, that artists
like myself are in some way to blame. This tragedy was a product of ignorance, hatred and an access to guns. I hope the [news] media's
[62]
irresponsible finger-pointing doesn't create more discrimination against kids who look different.
”
On May 1, 1999 the embattled musician expanded his rebuttal to the accusations leveled at him and his band in his
Rolling Stone magazine op-ed piece, "Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? [66]" He castigated the ensuing hysteria and
moral panic and what he saw as the irresponsibly handled news media coverage; he chastised America's habit of
hanging blame on scapegoats to escape responsibility.[67][68][69] Columbine and America's fixation on a culture of
guns, blame, and 'celebrity by death' was further explored in the group's 2000 album Holy Wood.
In 2002 Manson appeared in Michael Moore's documentary, Bowling for Columbine; his appearance was filmed
during the band's first show in Denver since the shooting. When Moore asked what he would have said to the
students at Columbine, he replied, "I wouldn't say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say and
that's what no one did."[70]
Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM released a statement stating their music denounced "war, oppression, fascism and
violence against others."[54]
Columbine High School massacre
Choice of date
Due to ambiguities in the written record of their planning, many theories still exist about the choice of date for the
shootings. One theory states that the original date the pair had chosen to target the school was April 19, due to the
fact that Robyn Anderson (a close friend of Klebold who purchased some of the weaponry used in the massacre)
would not be present on that date. Due to delays in the manufacturing of the propane bombs and in acquiring
ammunition, the date was moved to April 20. April 19 was also the fourth anniversary of the Oklahoma City
Bombing and the date of the immolation of the Waco Siege, further strengthening another theory that the original
intended date of the Columbine High School massacre was actually April 19; both Harris and Klebold had
mentioned in their homemade videos that they had hoped to overshadow these events with their own actions. It is
also believed that the shootings were perhaps plotted for these days because of their proximity to the end of the year
activities.
The actual date of the shooting happened to coincide with the birthday of Adolf Hitler, leading to some to speculate
that Harris and Klebold were Neo-Nazis.[54]
Impact on school policies
Secret Service report on school shootings
A United States Secret Service study concluded that schools were placing false hope in physical security, when they
should be paying more attention to the pre-attack behaviors of students. Zero-tolerance policies and metal detectors
"are unlikely to be helpful," the Secret Service researchers found. The researchers focused on questions concerning
the reliance on SWAT teams when most attacks are over before police arrive, profiling of students who show
warning signs in the absence of a definitive profile, expulsion of students for minor infractions when expulsion is the
spark that push some to return to school with a gun, buying software not based on school shooting studies to evaluate
threats although killers rarely make direct threats, and reliance on metal detectors and police officers in schools when
the shooters often make no effort to conceal their weapons.[71]
In May 2002 the Secret Service published a report that examined 37 US school shootings. They had the following
findings:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Incidents of targeted violence at school were rarely sudden, impulsive acts.
Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker's idea and/or plan to attack.
Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern or indicated a need for
help.
Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered
or attempted suicide.
Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.
In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law
enforcement intervention.[72]
14
Columbine High School massacre
15
School security
Following the Columbine shooting, schools across the United States instituted new security measures such as
see-through backpacks, metal detectors, and security guards. Some schools implemented school door numbering to
improve public safety response. Several schools throughout the country resorted to requiring students to wear
computer-generated IDs.[73] At the same time, police departments reassessed their tactics and now train for
Columbine-like situations after criticism over the slow response and progress of the SWAT teams during the
shooting.[74]
Anti-bullying policies
In response to expressed concerns over the causes of the Columbine High School massacre and other school
shootings, some schools across America have renewed existing anti-bullying policies in addition to adopting a zero
tolerance approach to both possession of weapons and threatening behavior by students.[75] Despite the nature of the
Columbine incident, several social science experts feel the zero tolerance approach adopted in schools has been
implemented too harshly.[76]
Long-term results
Police tactics
One significant change to police tactics following Columbine is the introduction of the Immediate Action Rapid
Deployment tactic, used in situations with an active shooter. Police followed the traditional tactic at Columbine:
surround the building, set up a perimeter, contain the damage. That approach has been replaced by a tactic which
takes into account the presence of an active shooter whose interest is to kill, not to take hostages. This tactic calls for
a four-person team to advance into the site of any ongoing shooting, optimally a diamond-shaped wedge, but even
with just a single officer if more are not available. Police officers using this tactic are trained to move toward the
sound of gunfire and neutralize the shooter as quickly as possible.[77] Their goal is to stop the shooter at all costs;
they are to walk past wounded victims, as the aim is to prevent the shooter from killing or wounding more. David
Cullen, author of Columbine, has stated: "The active protocol has proved successful at numerous shootings during
the past decade. At Virginia Tech alone, it probably saved dozens of lives."[78]
Gun control
The shooting resulted in calls for more gun control measures. In 2000
federal and state legislation was introduced that would require safety
locks on firearms as well as ban the importation of high-capacity
ammunition magazines. Though laws were passed that made it a crime
to buy guns for criminals and minors, there was considerable
controversy over legislation pertaining to background checks at gun
shows. There was concern amongst the gun lobby over further
restrictions on Second Amendment rights in the US.[79][80] In 2001,
K-Mart, which sold ammunition to the shooters, announced it would
no longer sell handgun ammunition, action encouraged by and
documented in the film Bowling for Columbine.
The HOPE Columbine Memorial Library that
replaced the library where most of the massacre
unfolded
Columbine High School massacre
Memorials
In 2000 youth advocate Melissa Helmbrecht organized a remembrance event in Denver featuring two surviving
students, called the "Day of Hope."[81][82]
A permanent memorial "to honor and remember the victims of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High
School" was dedicated on September 21, 2007, in Clement Park, a meadow adjacent to the school where impromptu
memorials were held in the days following the shooting. The memorial fund raised $1.5 million in donations over
eight years of planning.[83]
Becoming part of the vernacular
Since the shooting, "Columbine" or "the Columbine incident" has
become a euphemism for a school shooting. Charles Andrew Williams,
the Santana High School shooter, reportedly told his friends that he
was going to "pull a Columbine," though none of them took him
seriously. Many foiled school shooting plots mentioned Columbine and
the desire to "outdo Harris and Klebold."[84] Convicted students Brian
Draper and Torey Adamcik of Pocatello High School in Idaho, who
The Columbine memorial
murdered their classmate Cassie Jo Stoddart, mentioned Harris and
Klebold in their homemade videos, and were reportedly planning a "Columbine-like" shooting.[85]
In a self-made video recording posted by Seung-Hui Cho to the news media immediately prior to his committing the
Virginia Tech massacre,[86] Seung-Hui refers the Columbine Massacre in an apparent reference to his motivation for
his own acts. In the recording, he refers to Kelebold and Harris as being "martyrs."[87]
References
Specific
[1] Janelle Brown (April 23, 1999). "Doom, Quake and mass murder" (http:/ / www. salon. com/ tech/ feature/ 1999/ 04/ 23/ gamers/ index.
html). Salon. . Retrieved August 24, 2008.
[2] "Lessons from Littleton (Part I)" (http:/ / www. nais. org/ publications/ ismagazinearticle. cfm?ItemNumber=144264) (in English).
Independent School. National Association of Independent Schools. . Retrieved August 24, 2008.
[3] "JonKatz" (April 26, 1999). "Voices From The Hellmouth" (http:/ / slashdot. org/ articles/ 99/ 04/ 25/ 1438249_F. shtml). Slashdot. .
Retrieved August 24, 2008.
[4] "Columbine". The Final Report. episode 9. season 1.
[5] Harris, Eric. "Columbine shooter Eric Harris's webpages" (http:/ / www. acolumbinesite. com/ ericpage. html). Acolumbinesite.com. .
Retrieved August 24, 2008.
[6] The existence of the affidavit was concealed by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and not revealed to the public until September 2001, as
the direct result of an investigation by the television show 60 Minutes. After the release of the affidavit, a series of grand jury investigations
were launched into the cover-up activities of Jefferson County officials. The investigation revealed that high-ranking officials of Jefferson
County had come together a few days after the massacre to discuss the release of the affidavit to the public. It was decided that because the
affidavit's contents lacked the necessary probable cause to have supported the issuance of a search warrant for the Harris household by a
judge, it would be best not to disclose the affidavit's existence at an upcoming press conference, although the actual conversations and points
of discussion were never revealed to anyone other than the Grand Jury members. Following the press conference, the original Guerra
documents disappeared. In September 1999, a Jefferson County investigator failed to find the documents during a secret search of the county's
computer system. A second attempt in late 2000 found copies of the document within the Jefferson County archives. The documents were
reconstructed and released to the public in September 2001, but the original documents are still missing. The final grand jury investigation was
released in September 2004.
[7] Release of juvenile records (http:/ / www. rcfp. org/ news/ 2002/ 1106inreha. html) The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
[8] Jerald Block. Lessons From Columbine: Virtual and Real Rage (http:/ / www. gamepolitics. com/ images/ Research/ block-columbine.
pdf) PDF American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry. July 2007.
[9] Toppo, Greg (April 14, 2009). "10 years later, the real story behind Columbine" (http:/ / www. usatoday. com/ news/ nation/
2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N. htm). USA Today. . Retrieved April 14, 2009.
16
Columbine High School massacre
[10] Cullen, Dave (April 20, 2004). "The Depressive and the Psychopath" (http:/ / www. slate. com/ id/ 2099203/ ). Slate. . Retrieved August 22,
2010.
[11] "Eric and Dylan's Journal Entries" (http:/ / www. acolumbinesite. com/ diary. html). Acolumbinesite.com. . Retrieved August 22, 2010.
[12] "Detailed retelling of the events prior to the shootings" (http:/ / www. acolumbinesite. com/ event/ index. html). Acolumbinesite.com. .
Retrieved August 22, 2010.
[13] Cullen, Dave. (2009) Columbine. Grand Central Publishing, 2009. Pg. 214, 261. ISBN 978-0-446-54693-5.
[14] Luvox and the Columbine High School massacre (http:/ / www. breggin. com/ luvox. html). breggin.com.
[15] Moore, Thomas J; Glenmullen, Joseph; Furberg, Curt D (2010), "Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others"
(http:/ / www. plosone. org/ article/ info:doi/ 10. 1371/ journal. pone. 0015337), PLoS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015337,
[16] Analysis of journals and videos (http:/ / slate. msn. com/ id/ 2099203) (April 20, 2004) Slate.
[17] Columbine killers planned to kill 500 (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ world/ americas/ 329303. stm) (April 27, 1999). BBC News Online.
[18] "Basement Tapes – quotes and transcripts from Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's video tapes" (http:/ / www. acolumbinesite. com/ quotes.
html). Acolumbinesite.com. . Retrieved August 22, 2010.
[19] Loophole protects Columbine "witness" (http:/ / denver. rockymountainnews. com/ shooting/ 1003robyn. shtml) Rocky Mountain News
[20] All times are in Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-6
[21] Brown, Brooks; Rob Merritt (2002). No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine. New York, NY: Lantern Books.
ISBN 978-1-59056-031-0.
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General
• Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The Columbine Report (Columbine documents JC-001-000001 through
JC-001-010937, 10,937 pages) (http://www.salon.com/news/special/columbine_report/).
• Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Columbine documents JC-001-025923 through JC-001-026859, 946 pages.
(http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/900columbinedocs.pdf) PDF (32.8 MB) hosted by the Rocky
Mountain News.
• "Report: 12 killed at Columbine in first 16 minutes" (http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/05/15/columbine.
report.04/). CNN. May 16, 2000.
Further reading
• Altheide, David L. "The Columbine Shootings and the Discourse of Fear," American Behavioral Scientist, 52
(June 2009), 1354–70.
• Elliot Aronson: Nobody Left to Hate. Teaching Compassion After Columbine. First Owl Books 2001. ISBN
978-0-8050-7099-6.
• Kass, Jeff. Columbine: A True Crime Story. Ghost Road Press 2009. ISBN 978-0-9816525-6-6.
External links
• Video of the evacuation in progress (http://i.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/videos/Evac_1.
mpg), Second video of the evacuation (http://i.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/videos/Evac_3.
mpg) (KUSA-TV (9News) news coverage via CNN)
• HOPE Columbine Memorial Library (http://www.hopecolumbine.org/)
• "Columbine High School massacre" (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7980644).
Find a Grave. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
• Columbine Memorial (http://www.columbinememorial.org/)
• FBI file on the Columbine massacre (http://vault.fbi.gov/Columbine High School /)
• Jefferson County CO Library – Columbine massacre archives (http://jefferson.lib.co.us/cltragedy2.html)
• The Lullaby for Columbine Project (http://www.lfcnews.com/)
19
Columbine High School massacre
• Download 35,000+ pages of official Columbine Documents (http://www.dylanklebold.com/)
• A detailed report on crimelibrary.com (http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/
littleton/index_1.html)
• Additional details (http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/TOC.htm) from CNN
• Columbine High School Official website (http://sc.jeffco.k12.co.us/education/school/school.
php?sectionid=282)
• Patricia Nielsen's 9-1-1 call from the Library (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbP0IW3zhMw)
• Columbine: 10 Years On (http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/
47032,in-pictures,news-in-pictures,in-pictures-columbine-massacre-ten-years-on) – slideshow by The First Post
• Columbine: Massacre and Aftermath (http://www.life.com/gallery/25391/
columbine-massacre-and-aftermath#index/0) – slideshow by Life
• 2011 interview with survivor Brooks Brown (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/gulaf/
iama_columbine_survivor_named_brooks_brown_i_was/)
20
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
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