Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School Massacre, considered to be the worst school shooting in U.S history, occurred on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Jefferson County nearby Littleton, Colorado, United States, when two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, executed a planned shooting rampage that coincided with Adolf Hitler's 110th birth anniversary, killing 12 other students and a teacher before committing suicide. Some argue that one of the shooters killed the other and then himself.
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2 Chronology of events on April 20 3 Chronology of events on the next day 4 Aftershock 5 Shooters 6 Victims 7 Cultural Impact 8 See also 9 External Links |
Firearms
Before the shootings, Harris and Klebold illegally acquired and modified a TEC-DC9 semi-automatic handgun, a rifle, two sawed-off shotguns, and as many as 97 explosive devices of various designs and sizes. Even before the massacre began, the two perpetrators committed numerous felony violations of state and federal law, including the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act of 1968.
All four guns were illegally obtained by straw purchases. Robyn Anderson bought the rifle and two shotguns for Harris and Klebold, but was never charged for her violations of federal gun laws. Two men named Mark Manes and Philip Duran were found to have supplied the handgun to the two boys, and have been convicted and sentenced to prison for their criminal acts.
See also: List of United States firearms topics
The boys fired their first shots at about 11:19, in the parking lot after running to there from the soccer field. By 11:25, the boys, who had already shot Rachel Scott dead, ran into the cafeteria shooting students. They shot at one of the bombs they had planted in an attempt to detonate it, but to no avail. Had the two cafeteria bombs that Harris and Klebold planted exploded, then all of the four hundred and forty-eight students in the cafeteria would probably have been killed. Some students hid in closets, bathrooms, offices, and under heavy desks and chairs while others fled the building, some to the Robert F. Clement Park. Some of the students, hidden behind a heavy door, called for help on cell phones.
The first 9-1-1 call relating to the incident was made at 11:25. A custodian reported hearing gunfire and explosions at the school. The custodian had also reported seeing a shooter on the roof, but he was later revealed to be an innocent repairman who was hiding from the gunmen.
By 11:28, deputy Neil Gardner of Jefferson County exchanged gunfire with Harris and Klebold near a building entrance. He radioed for help at 11:29. Other deputies from Jefferson County, Colorado arrived on the scene at 11:30 a.m. They called other agencies for help, as they heard explosions and gunshots. The shooters moved upstairs, shooting at students in classrooms. The gunmen then came to the library, killing ten students and injuring several more. When it was clear that they weren't going to escape the building, the two committed suicide. Harris put a shotgun in his mouth. Klebold is generally thought to have shot himself in the right temple. Some say that Harris killed Klebold since Klebold was left handed. Harris had injured his last victim at 11:31 a.m. The two teenagers shot themselves by 12:30.
The SWAT teams started checking every room in the high school in great detail by 12:30. Even desks and backpacks were examined. Authorities reported pipe bombs being found by 13:00.
SWAT teams started to free hidden students by 14:30. The students and teachers were taken away and were questioned and offered medical care in small holding areas. Officers found bodies in the library by 15:30.
By 16:00, the Sheriff made an initial estimate of 25 dead students and teachers; his estimate was 10 over the true count. Police officers were searching the bodies of Harris and Klebold in the library. At 16:30, the school was declared safe, yet at 17:30, additional officers were called in as more explosives were found in the parking lot. At 18:15, officials found a bomb in a car in the parking lot, so the Sheriff marked the entire school with yards of yellow tape as a crime scene. All of the dead were still inside the school at the time. At 22:45, one of the homemade bombs detonated while police tried to defuse it.
By 14:30, a press conference was held by Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas and Sheriff John Stone, saying that they suspected that other children helped plan the shooting. Formal identifications of the dead had not taken place yet, but families of the children thought have to been killed were notified that such probably happened. Throughout the late afternoon and early evening, the rest of the bodies were gradually removed out of the school and taken to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office to be identified and autopsied. By 17:00, the identities of those dead started to be known.
The pair had an elaborate plan cooked up for not only the school shooting, but also a massacre in the neighborhood and, if they were unable to escape out of the United States, a planned hijacking of an airplane which the boys would then crash into New York City.
In the aftermath of the shootings, there was a great deal of debate about what "provoked" the killers and whether anything could have been done to prevent the crime. The reality of social cliques in high schools was a frequent topic of discussion. Many argued that the boys' isolation from the rest of their classmates prompted feelings of helplessness, insecurity and depression, as well as a strong desire for attention. Some schools also began programs to expose and stop school bullying, which many charged had fueled anger and resentment within Harris and Klebold.
It's been publicly revealed that Harris had been prescribed and was taking Luvox® (Fluvoxamine maleate), an SSRI antidepressant, at the time of the shooting spree. Although Klebold's medical records have been sealed, there is strong reason to believe that he too had been prescribed one of several popular drugs for depression. Throughout the 1990s these drugs arguably became the standard response to a wide variety of behavioral problems in schools, especially for boys. An alleged side-effect of these drugs is a loss of empathy for other human beings. Of the various USA "school shooters" whose medical history has been made public, all were either currently taking or had recently gone off one of these drugs given to them to treat various serious behavioral problems.
Other analysts argued that part of the killers' problem may have been a result of their constant exposure to violent imagery in video games, music, and movies, theorizing that their obsession with these forms of media may have led them to have trouble telling the difference between reality and fantasy.
In response to concerns over the causes of Columbine and other school massacres, many schools later instituted new anti-bully policies as well as so-called "zero tolerance" approaches to weapons and threatening behavior. Experts in Social science frequently feel there was an overreaction to this massacre, though the shooting was undoubtedly terrible. Therefore it is claimed that there was a Moral panic over the massacre and those responsible are considered Folk devils.
In the months following the shooting, many in the Christian community were captivated by reports of Cassie Bernall, who, when asked "Do you believe in God?" by one of the shooters, responded "Yes" before being shot and killed. Alternate accounts surfaced soon thereafter, attributing the remark to victim Rachel Scott. Both Bernall and Scott were regarded as Christian "martyrs" by many. Official investigation attributed the statement to survivor Valeen Schnur.
The massacre was one of the subjects of the controversial 2001 Michael Moore documentary film Bowling for Columbine, about the culture of violence in the US.
The Columbine shooting spree also served as the inspiration for the fictional 2003 Gus Van Sant film, Elephant.
In light of the incident, many observers now believe that the high school graduating class of 1999 in general (that is to say, those born in 1981), are the oldest members of Generation Y, with those immediately older belonging to Generation X.
Chronology of events on April 20
All times in Denver Time (MST).16 Minutes of Terror
Much of the massacre was captured on the high school's security cameras.The Shooting Stops
By 12 Noon, SWAT teams found explosive devices around the school, and ambulances started taking the wounded to local hospitals. Parents gathered at Leawood Elementary School. The call for additional ammunition to police officers in case of a shootout came at 12:20. However, the killers had supposedly stopped shooting prior to 12 Noon.Chronology of events on the next day
The next day, on April 21, bomb squads combed the high school looking for bombs. At 08:30, the official death toll of fifteen was released. The bomb squad declared the building safe for officials to enter. By 11:30, a spokesman of the sheriff said, "The investigation is under way." Thirteen of the bodies were still inside the high school as investigators photographed the building.Aftershock
In the following weeks, media reports about the two killers portrayed them as outcast "nerds" who were unpopular and ostracized by much of the school's population. It was also reported that anti-gay epithets were frequently directed at them, even though neither was actually homosexual; indeed, both were known to have had girlfriends. Harris and Klebold were peripheral members of a club called the "Trenchcoat Mafia" in which they wore heavy black trench coats. By the time they shot up the school, most of the major members of the group had already either graduated or dropped out of Columbine.
Harris and Klebold were fans of violent video games such as "Doom", and in fact, Harris often created multiplayer levels for the game. They were widely distributed, and can still occasionally be found on the internet as the Harris levels. Snopes, a "hoax-busting" website, asserts that the Harris levels did not resemble the school that was shot up.Shooters
Victims
Deceased
Injured
Cultural Impact
See also
External Links