RUNNING HEAD: Columbine
The Shootings at Columbine High School:
A Case Study Analysis
Chris Surfus
Grand Valley State University
PA-520 Foundations of Public Service
Professor Neal Buckwalter
November 1, 2012
The Shootings at Columbine High School:
A Case Study Analysis
Introduction The “Shootings at Columbine High School: The Law Enforcement Response” case, in Richard Stillman’s Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, Ninth Edition, covers the Columbine High School law enforcement response to the mass murders committed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Columbine High School is located in Littleton, CO, which is situated in the center of multiple jurisdictions. The case raises management communication
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Oral messages are more likely to be miscommunicated and misinterpreted than written messages. Stating “female down” is not an appropriate way to communicate, as the listener has no idea what actually occurred in the incident. Stating that a female had been shot and is paralyzed would have been more effective. The communication technology used is important and should be incorporated as part of a public communication strategic plan. There were a number of communication issues, and these issues related to the poor initial assessments of the incident. As previously mentioned, the usage of differing communication technologies created issues. Additionally, the unfamiliarity of the type of incident created misperceptions, as school shootings weren’t common. The fire department chief thought the paralyzed individual was a victim of a drive-by shooting, while the Sheriff Deputy thought the victim was in a car accident. Ray Rahne, the Littleton Fire Department Battalion Chief, didn’t know about the firefights on the other side of the school. If Rahne knew, perhaps Harris and Klebold could have been stopped before more bloodshed occurred. Rahne called for police assistance, but none came. Medical personnel did not have bulletproof vests, and they could not communicate on the radio system with other
On April 20, 1999, one of the largest school shootings in American history took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others both before committing suicide. Many believe the two teens decided to hold this school massacre because both were bullied and were outcasts. This paper will examine labeling and social control theories to explain the behavior of these two juveniles, and this paper will also include issues and solutions pertaining to these theories.
day two seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris carried out a full blown assault on the school during school hours with hundreds of kids and teachers present” (Levy, 1999). These two had a plan to kill as many people as they possibly could. They had multiple guns and explosives as they patrolled the halls looking for their victims. By the time the situation was resolved they had murdered 12 students and 1 teacher before they killed themselves.
April 20, 1999, is a day of remembrance for many people. The Columbine massacre had an effect not only on the Littleton, Colorado community but also on the entire country. In the book Columbine by Dave Cullen, the author tells the story of the tragedy that started with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The book begins with an introduction into both Eric and Dylan's thoughts, actions, and reasoning behind their plan to attack their high school. Throughout the book the author points out how the media gave a different view for the motives of the attack which caused false accusations towards the killers. This book tells the truth told from survivors and evidence, but the honest truth behind the attack went to the grave with Eric and
This investigation will explore the question: “Why did Columbine happen and what can be learned from it?”. This investigation focuses on the events that took place in the columbine massacre, the two boys that committed the tragedy and why, and how to prevent school shootings like this from happening again. The majority of this evidence is derived from articles, books,
10 minutes after the first shot was fired, Harris and Klebold entered the school Library. The hearts of students dropped and the whole building filled with a cloud of fear. A total of 52 students, 2 teachers and 2 librarians were trapped and hiding. The eerie silence was quickly broken when Harris shouted “Get up!”
On April 20th, 1999 at 11:19 AM two current students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold open-fired in Columbine High School murdering 12 students and one teacher. They wounded 24 other students and shortly after took their own lives. Strategically, they set up bombs a few miles away from the school to go off just before the massacre was to begin to deter the police, fire department and
Eighteen years ago on April 20, 1999, two students identified as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold besieged Columbine High School in Colorado. Infamously known now as the Columbine Massacre, it was, at the time, “ the worst school shooting in U.S. history” (Obmascik, 1999, para. 1) with 15 causalities including the perpetrators themselves. Despite occurring in a small town in Colorado, the event shook the entire country. The shooting became a national ordeal as America watched "the murders being broadcast[ed] locally and nationally on live television" (Obmascik, 1999, para. 12). Moreover, as news outlets continuously published reports on the massacre, information unraveled and a story developed in real time.
The crime was the worst school shooting in U.S. history (until 33 people, including the gunman, were killed in the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007)and prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the teen gunmen. In the days quickly following the shootings, it was predicted that Klebold and Harris purposely chose jocks, minorities and Christians as their victims. At
i think the media and the police department somehow made the entire columbine situation 10 times worse. the police were there but wouldn’t go in and help the kids. they waited 3 hours before they helped the teacher that got shot, and started shooting at dylan causing him to go back in and kill even
On the morning of April 20, 1999 – Adolf Hitler’s birthday – two students entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, with as many guns and pipe bombs as they could carry. The original plan was to plant bombs in the cafeteria to drive teachers and students to the parking lot, and from there they would shoot as many people as they could. More explosives would be detonated once police and ambulances arrived. But the first set of bombs failed to explode. So instead, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold simply wandered their way around school grounds, gunning down whoever was unfortunate enough to cross their path. In less than an hour, the two teens killed twelve students and a teacher. More than twenty others were also wounded. The onslaught ended when Harris and Klebold turned the guns on themselves in the library.
The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999 took place in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and was described as one of the worst mass shootings in the U.S history and the deadliest incident of school violence. The perpetrators were two students who attended Columbine High School: Eric Harris,18, and Dylan Klebold,17. Young Harris and Klebold killed 12 students, 1 teacher and wounded more than 20 others. The weapons utilized by Harris and Klebold for the attack consisted of; a Hi-Point 995 9mm carbine with thirteen 10-round magazines, a sawed-off Savage 67H 12-gauge pump shotgun, and a sawed-off Stevens 311D double-barreled shotgun they also had 99 home made explosives and 4 knives. At approximately 11:19 am, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold started the massacre by shooting individuals outside the school. Some of the first victims were Rachel Scott, 16, shot two times (murdered) and Richard Castaldo, 17 (paralyzed) who were shot outside the school while eating lunch. Most of the killings were performed at the school’s library. After, walking around the school for less than an hour, the shooting ended after 12 p.m. with Klebold and Harris committing suicide in the school’s library.
On April 20, 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who attended Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado went on a shooting spree, leaving thirteen dead and twenty wounded before turning the guns on themselves and committing suicide. This attack would go down as the single worst school shooting in United States history and the shooting spread fear in people across the nation and caused a rise in security. Schools across America introduced new security measures such as metal detectors, dress codes and I.D. badges. Despite the fear left in many people they were still asking several questions: How could two kids do such a horrific act? Was bullying to blame for this attack? Could attacks like these be prevented?
After the tragic events that took place at the elementary school, the entire nation amped up on security for all schools. There also became gun laws and different restrictions to buy certain weapons. Also, many families switched schools and families throughout the nation looked into the location of their school and the safety that if brought to their children. There was a yearlong investigation on the shooter and this case really paralleled to the cases of Columbine and Virginia Tech. All of the shooters were violent and quiet kids who suffered from a mental disorder. Columbine was a really big event that got the ball rolling for the other two for it was found that Columbine was the inspiration for other
It was April 20 1999 and Columbine high school was in session 2 fellow students were outside but nobody knew and they had propane bombs in the cafeteria kitchen and then at 11:19 am they were supposed to go off but then this happened. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were on tv and the news recorded everything.
The first misconception is that the social cliques that occur in high schools across the nation has a role in this tragedy. Columbine is not simply a school shooting but is rather a shooting that the gunmen chose the school as their tool. School shooters tend to act impulsively and attack the targets of their rage mainly the students and faculty. Harris and Klebold planned for a year and dreamed much bigger. The school served as a means to a grander end, to terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life. The shooters talk in numerous video tapes about their act being bigger than the Oklahoma city bombings. They boasted about making sure there bloody performance was bigger and more memorable. Klebold is particular was quoted as bragging about inflicting “the most deaths in U.S. history. Columbine was