Columbine High School

Massacre
The Facts
 They placed two 20 lb. propane bombs in
the cafeteria which failed to detonate at
11:17AM
 They resulted to a pistol, a rifle, and two
sawed off shotguns
 Teacher Patricia Nielson called 911
 Police arrived within 5 minutes, but
surrounded the school instead of entering
 Should they have entered? Would more
lives have been saved?
 13 total murder victims
 23 others were wounded
 Double suicide at approximately 12:08PM
in the library
Strange Encounters
 Harris slapped a table twice saying, “Peek-a-boo!” before
shooting and killing Cassie Bernall.
 Klebold asked Valeen Schnurr, who had already been shot and
cried out “Oh God, help me,” if she believed in God. She
answered, “Yes,” and he walked away. She survived.
 Brooks Brown’s parents had reported online threats made by
Harris to the police, but nothing was ever done about it.
Interestingly, on the day of the shooting, Brooks saw Harris in the
school parking lot. Harris said, “"Brooks, I like you now. Get out
of here. Go home."
 John Savage was hiding under a table when Klebold said hello to
him. John responded, “Hi Dylan, what are you doing?” Klebold
told him, “Oh, just killing people.” When John asked if he would
be killed, the shooter responded, “No dude, just run. Just get out
of here.”
 “I’ve known these people for like four years, four freaking
years, and they didn’t do it. We’re gonna graduate in like 17
days, and they feel like ending everyone’s life like now!?”
 *crying* “And then he came
into the cafeteria, and you
could hear like bombs and
shotguns going off, and then
he came into the library and
shot everybody around me,
then put a gun to my head and
said, he asked if we all wanted
to die, and, and he was gonna
kill us if we were of color and
if we had a hat and if we were,
if we played sports…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvDfhhAyUl8
Dylan Klebold
 Born: September 11th, 1981
 CHIPS program (Challenging High Intellectual
Potential Students): elementary school
 Played baseball, soccer, and T-ball as a kid
 Big Boston Red Sox fan
 Cub Scout
 An avid smoker and occasional drinker; earned the
nickname “Vodka”
 Loved music and movies: Natural Born Killers, From
Dusk Till Dawn, and Pulp Fiction
 Planned to study Computer Science at Arizona State
University
 Kept a journal which is now available to the public
 At Columbine High School he was a light and sound
coordinator for school plays, computer assistant, and
involved in Columbine’s RNN (Rebel News Network)
 Clinically depressed and admitted in his journal that he
just wanted someone to love
 Had loving family and friends, but believed they
would all leave him in the end
Eric Harris
 Born: April 9, 1981
 Father was an Air Force pilot, so their family moved around a lot
 Shy kid, always in the shadow of older brother
 Only played baseball because his parents made him
 Moved to Littleton, Colorado in 1993
 Freshman year, he asked a girl named Tiffany to homecoming.
After the dance, she refused to go out with him again, so he faked
a suicide. He also wrote a German passage in her yearbook that
translates to, “I am God.”
 Bullied by the jocks throughout high school
 Anger problems: his mother started taking him to therapy
sessions, he smashed a friend’s windshield and threatened to kill
him because they refused to drive him to school, and he had his
own website in which he ranted about everyone and everything
that he hated or had wronged him
 Became obsessed with playing violent video games
 Rejected from the U.S. Marie Corps due to his psychiatric
medication
 In his journal, he wrote about the plans for the massacre, calling it
“Judgement Day.”
 He posted on his website about their bomb making progress and
would brag about their expertise using his nickname, “Reb.”
 He also posted on his webpage that he hated the world, “Everyone
in it, not just jocks or blacks or whites or rich people... Everyone.”
Delinquent Histories
 Eric and Dylan worked together at a pizza shop called Blackjack Pizza. They often
got in trouble for setting off fireworks and placing booby traps on the fence.
 The two acted as outsiders and developed a hate towards their peers.
 They both were fascinated with all things German and often gave the “Heil,
Hitler” salute.
 In 1998 they broke into a van and were charged with theft, criminal mischief and
criminal trespassing. They were both sentenced to a diversion program and was
released a month early from the program in February 1999 with a glowing review
being called “a bright young man who has a great deal of potential.”
 Sometime in 1998 they started planning their attack on Columbine and they got
guns and made pipe bombs. He believed that their plot would bring vengeance
and fame and even discussed with Eric which director should direct the film of
their attack.
A Study by the Secret Service
 May 2002 Secret Service examined 37 US school shootings and found:
 They were rarely impulsive and unplanned
 In most incidents, other people knew about the attacker's idea and/or
plan to attack
 Most did not directly threaten their targets prior to the attack
 No specific profile of this type of offender
 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, and many had considered or attempted suicide
 Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the
attack
 Many had access to and/or previously used a weapon
 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
Zero-Tolerance
 New security measures in schools: metal
detectors, security guards, etc.
 SWAT teams and police department are now
trained for incidents with active shooters
 Zero-tolerance policies
 Disproportionate responses to minor
violations: ex. Possession of ibuprofen or
Midol, pocketknives in cars, and carrying
sharp tools out of woodshop
 How do you feel about these types of
policies?
 Discussion
 Does media influence
society? How?
 Which types of media are
most influential?
 Are juveniles or adults
more susceptible to biased
media?
 https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=1NOFSOeOBsk
1:22
Works Cited
 http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122832/why-does-
columbine-myth-about-martyr-cassie-bernall-persist
 http://www.history.com/topics/columbine-high-school-shootings
 http://www.acolumbinesite.com/dylan/writing.html
 http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-
shootings-fast-facts/
 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-
columbine-myths_N.htm
 http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/
LIBRARY_TEXT.htm
 http://crimeandcolumbine.tumblr.com/post/85948486554/john-
savage-telling-his-story-of-the-columbine
 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-really-happened-at-
columbine/