Columbine High School: The Day That Shocked The Country

On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,

//////. On April 19, 1999 at approximately 11:19am in Littleton Colorado Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, 17 and 18 years old, went to Columbine High School to shoot students and staff.

Columbine by Dave Cullen tells the events that unfolded on April 20th, 1999. That day, two boys, self-proclaimed rebels, armed themselves and proceeded to murder the same students they had walked the halls with for four years. As the stories of Dylan, Eric, and the victims of this tragic day came to light, many falsehoods also arose. Unfortunately, the myths and truths about Columbine still linger with us today. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold left a lasting impression on the world; but left behind the truth as to why they really did it. This leaves us to wonder what really happened on that fateful day.

Six months after the Columbine shooting in October, the sheriff's department agreed to share the evidence the have gathered. The killing was carefully planned, the boys put a small decoy bomb 3 miles away from the school in a field hoping to distract people from the events happening at the school. They got to the school at 11;15 with two duffel bags holding propane bombs. THe boys placed the bombs in the cafeteria and went back to their cars and waited. When the bombs didn’t go off as planned, they climbed to the top of the steps outside of the schools west entrance and started shooting. Once the two boys got back into the school hallways, they started throwing pipe bombs and shooting amnously. Once getting into the library, they shot at the

The school staffs had a huge meeting which involved support for the people who got killed and they talked about what must be done differently to prevent shootings to ever take place again in the school. After this took place, the rules were stricter. Students could not bring minor items to school such as a nail clipper because that would result into the student getting suspended. If the rules at school were broken at all, students would face profound consequences. Everything that happened on this day, to the teachers, and to the kids changed the way people acted around the school.

The Columbine High School Massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 20th, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. It was a highly planned attacked that included a bomb to confused firefighters, propane tanks that were made into bombs to blow up the cafeteria, 99 explosive device, and some car bombs. The masterminds were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, they were both seniors. Collaboratively they murdered 12 students and 1 teacher. Aside from the kills they injured 21 other people, and an additional 3 more while trying to escape the horrendous event. After their killing rampage, the murderers committed suicide.

Janofsky, Michael. "Year Later, Columbine Is Learning to Cope While Still Searching for Answers." New York Times (17 April 2000)

They savagely murder thirteen high school students and staff, and before ending their own lives in the library, injure many more such as Patrick Ireland, who was shot in the head yet somehow, clinging to life, managed to survive and graduate as valedictorian the next year. Cassie Bernall, one of the Columbine students who was murdered by Dylan Klebold, was long regarded as a martyr, yet it was actually another high school student, Columbine survivor Valeen Schnurr, was the one who was actually asked if she believed in God by Dylan. When Valeen said yes, she was shot by Dylan and survived, later telling her story to others. Coach Dave Sanders, who was shot during the initial attack, survived for a few hours before succumbing to blood loss. His family sued the police as it was shown he could’ve been saved by S.W.A.T but wasn’t.

On Tuesday, April 20 1999, Columbine High School located in Columbine Colorado an unfortunate massacre happened and many teens lost their lives. The two students responsible for this incident were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These two senior students were responsible for killing twelve students and one teacher; they were also responsible for injuring an additional twenty one students on their rampage. A few other students were injured while trying to escape the school. Columbine is considered the fourth deadliest school massacre in history. It was said to be that there was not one target but everyone was a target on Eric and Dylan’s rampage through the high school

On April 20, 1999, two teens went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 students, a teacher, and

One of the most horrific shootings that scared America was the Columbine High School shooting of 1999. Though not the first mass shooting, this shooting was the first major school shooting with the death of 12 students, 1 teacher, and 21 injured. The two shooters were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Both of the killers were white, male, and 18. They had both parents, were both a part of an

The shooters names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. There are many different theories on why they did it. They were bullied, they were different, and some say they did it so they would just be remembered. “Klebold was hurting inside while Harris wanted to hurt people” says Dave Cullen who did an investigation trying to understand why two high schoolers could do such a thing. Dylan and Eric were a part of a trench coat mafia. They both had loving families, and were raised good. They wanted the shooting to be the “most deaths in United States history” and it would’ve been if their plan would have worked. They planted bombs in the cafeteria but they didn’t go off, they had a backup plan though. When they realized the bombs didn’t go off they grabbed their guns and headed into the school. If their bombs would’ve gone off it would’ve killed around six hundred people.

Some of the people they killed, were killed because of their skin color, their status amoung the high school, or because of their religious beliefs. One student named Cassie Bernall, a 17-year-old junior was killed because she believed in God. Cassie's martyrdom was even more remarkable when you consider that just a few years ago she had dabbled in the occult, including witchcraft. She had embraced the same darkness and nihilism that drove her killers to such despicable acts. But two years ago, Cassie dedicated her life to Christ, and turned her life around. Another student, Isaiah Shoels, 18, senior, was the only black student shot. Suffered health problems as a child and had heart surgery twice. Wanted to attend an arts college and become a music executive. Small in stature, but lifted weights and played football and wrestled. Bench-pressed twice his weight.

This article was very interesting because I went to school with the mother of the 10 year old and the 3 year old who were shot in the Hill. It pains me to think that they will forever be changed and remember the night they feared for their lives. If our student’s primary fear is death how do we expect them to fear getting bad grades or being suspended? If our students are seeing their uncles, cousins’ brothers and dads being shot how do we expect them to care about Billy Anne in their reading prompt? I remember having dreams of my brother getting shot. I would wake up in cold sweats happy that it was just a dream, but for many of our children it is not a dream it is their reality.

Dressed in trench coats Eric and Dylan went to Columbine High School, of which they attended with intent to blow the whole place up. Mimicking the Oklahoma shootings in 1995. After placing the bombs throughout the school, they went to their cars to wait for the explosions. Neither Eric or Dylan were knowledgeable when it came to wiring explosives so they did not detonate. It was then they armed up and started the massacre at Columbine High on April 20, 1999. They would go on to kill 13 people, and wounding over 20 people; as well as, spraying bullets as they walked through the halls, no remorse or hesitation just complete anililation. Wanting to surpass the worlds mass murders status. Pupils and and teachers alike locking themselves in closets