They were supposed to stand many yards from each other for an optimal firing range, but when the shooting started, the two were standing together at Klebolds assigned position. Is there anything? Jefferson County Sheriffs Office/Getty Images. April 20, 1999. These [gunmen] will plan weeks, months, sometimes years, in advance as they build up. The second victim survived. On their website, the soon-to-be Columbine shooters openly plotted destruction and violence against their community and even called out specific people by name. For slightly under an hour, the pair killed a dozen of their peers, one teacher, and wounded 20 more people. He wasnt one to let others know how he was feeling, bottling up his emotions until he exploded in uncharacteristic rages. One of the big issues in Columbine was law enforcement wasn't trained to go after the shooter. The truth about Columbine. They're just waiting to know. Hammer and LaPierre are also among the NRA officials who can be heard disparaging some of the group's membership. Each student dealt with the tragedy in a different way, he said. Whats more, Harris and Klebold were meanwhile amassing a small arsenal of weapons. It was only once Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold joined forces that their shared dissatisfaction began to morph into something more tangible. Historical journalist Andrew Lenoir holds a masters degree in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, a certificate in digital journalism from the Dow Jones News Fund, and studied semiotics, contemplative studies, and H. P. Lovecraft as an undergraduate at Brown University. Brown was confused, but that was nothing new in his relationship with Harris. Even stranger, Harris a straight-A student had missed their philosophy exam. The Full Story Behind Columbine High School Shooters Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold. BAKER: No. Members of a police SWAT march to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., April 20, 1999. Mark Manes, the man who sold a gun to Harris and bought him 100 rounds of ammunition the day before the murders, was sentenced to six years in prison. The pair worked their final shift at Blackjack Pizza on Friday, April 16. Circa 1998. Smart as both boys were, they had no idea how to wire detonators and failed to figure it out in the limited time allotted for their construction. One victim, Dave Sanders, was allowed to bleed out due to the slow police response, and multiple bodies were left where they were two outside and uncovered overnight for fear of booby traps. Some parents were not even told their children were killed. On April 20, 1999, they entered Columbine High School in Jefferson county with semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and several explosives. Following protocol, the officer didn't enter the building. BAKER: I talked to Delfay this morning, and he said they stand ready to help us orchestrate whatever we want to do. "As we got back into the groove of school, I repeatedly emphasized the need to be open to getting help," DeAngelis wrote in his book. The shooting happened more than a year ago, on April 25, after police responded to a report of a man with a gun at the Meijer store on Lake Lansing Road. ", Asked for comment, a current NRA spokesperson said, "It is disappointing that anyone would promote an editorial agenda against the NRA by using shadowy sources and 'mystery tapes' in order to conjure up the tragic events of over 20 years ago.". Eric is a very bright young man who is likely to succeed in life, it read. The turning point seems to be when, after killing one student in the library, Harris shotgun recoiled into his face, breaking his nose. The problem was that his father picked up the phone, and Harris had to claim it was a wrong number. They reflect on how surviving transformed them from carefree teenagers to terrified and bitter young adults. "Then you add the social media aspect -- making sure that we see what is going on with the kids' social media.". But if the officer had followed them inside, "there's a good chance" the gunmen wouldn't have reached the library, where so many classmates were targeted, DeAngelis said. Harris father Wayne managed to get both boys into a Juvenile Diversion program. Meanwhile, he researched the Brady Bill and various loopholes in gun laws, before finally, on November 22, 1998, joining Klebold in convincing an 18-year-old mutual friend (and later Klebolds prom date) to buy two shotguns and a high carbine rifle for them at a gun show. In addition to hating human beings, loving Nazis, and wanting to Kill Mankind, in an entry from November of 1998, he describes his fantasies, stating, I want to grab some weak little freshman and just tear them apart like a fucking wolf. [b] The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. They were laughing after they shot, said Aaron Cohn, a survivor. Then, they left, allowing the majority to escape. Originally planned for April 19 the anniversary of the Waco Siege and the Oklahoma City Bombing the attack, Harris hoped, would beat Timothys McVeighs body count in Oklahoma. I have something only me and V [Klebold] have, SELF AWARENESS, he wrote a year before the attack. Meanwhile, Harris met Dylan Klebold, a fellow student who shared some of these dark ideas. The teens then went back outside to their cars to wait for the bombs to go off. Police respond to a shooting that injured teacher Abigail Zwerner at Richneck Elementary in Newport News in January. In the meantime, parents were ushered into a nearby elementary school to provide authorities with their childrens names so they could match survivors and victims to their corresponding families. Instead, they were hastily constructed on the morning of the attack. After Halloween 1997, Harris and Klebold bragged about shooting trick-or-treaters with a BB gun. The man unloaded one of the pistols across the fronts of four innocents. Subsequent investigations determined Harris and Klebold chose their victims randomly, and the two teens originally had intended to bomb their school, potentially killing hundreds of people. They want us to play the heavy in their drama of packaged grief." While our community struggles with that question and grieves those who were lost, we remain united in one hopethat our nation shall never see anything resembling the tragedy at Columbine High School again. Images of students running from the school were looped on TV. Parents wait for news after reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018. Suicide by cop was Harris and Klebolds intended finale. In the days immediately following the shootings, it was speculated that Harris and Klebold purposely chose athletes, minorities and Christians as their victims. Circa 1998. Brown started running, knocking on doors until he found a telephone. In the window of one classroom, a student put up a piece of paper that read, Help me, Im bleeding. Others tried to get out through heating vents or used anything at their disposal desks and chairs to barricade themselves. "One of the big issues in Columbine was law enforcement wasn't trained to go after the shooter," said Garrett, the former FBI agent. Most interviewees did not know them, but that did not stop them from answering questions. The full facts of what happened and what caused the Columbine High School massacre were not released until 2006, long after the public had moved on. For some reason, though, that information was not shared and the search warrant went unsigned. Klebold and Harris delved deeper into their online interests as well. "The simplistic training is 'run, hide, fight,'" Garrett said. DeAngelis herded them into a gym storage area. On April 20, 1999, two students, cloaked in black trench coats and armed with guns and pipe bombs, opened fire at Columbine High School, killing 15 people . Because these bombs were so much bigger than the others, Harris and Klebold could not hide them at home. NPR reached out to the NRA and provided it with transcripts of the audio we used in this story. As time went on, Brown noticed the missions growing crueler. Baker can also be heard telling others not to worry about the stance of the firearms industry. Stream thousands of hours of acclaimed series, probing documentaries and captivating specials commercial-free in HISTORY Vault. Klebold and Harris were no longer mere fans of violent video games like Doom but had obtained three weapons that would later be used in the shooting from a female friend who was old enough to purchase guns in the state of Colorado. Many times before the attack, Klebold wrote about plans to kill himself, including stealing one of Harris pipe bombs and strapping it to his neck. From left, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold examine a sawed-off shotgun at a makeshift firing range not long before the Columbine shooting. Stone told the newspaper that the issue of a possible third gunman arose from statements by "students who were witnesses at the scene when this was going down" and who agreed on the third person's identity. NPR has obtained more than 2 1/2 hours of recordings of those private meetings after the Columbine shooting, which offer unique insight into the NRA's deliberations in the wake of this crisis and how it has struggled to develop what has become its standard response to school shootings ever since. The boys had actually intended to bomb the school the day before, which was the anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Klebold, equally miserable, remained in the program until he aged out in sixth grade. In addition, 21 others were wounded. From this, it can be inferred that Harris had to convince Klebold to go through with the attack at the last minute. "Today, that strategy of waiting seems nuts. Once Farber was safely inside a home, she heard shots across the parking lot. Columbine WikiaDylan Klebold (left) and Eric Harris. Columbine shooter Eric Harris practices shooting a weapon at a makeshift shooting range. Circa 1998. Harris wore preppy clothes, played soccer well, and developed an interest in computers. By the start of his sophomore year at Columbine High School, Harris had created 11 different custom levels for Doom and its sequel Doom 2. "If they hear shots, they're going to keep moving closer and closer to it until they confront the shooter.". And I remember thinking, 'What was it gonna feel like to have a bullet pierce my body?'". By then, the popular beliefs about what had happened on April 20, 1999 were seared into the collective consciousness. The next time they shot people it was to kill themselves. Interactive Map: Recent school shootings in the U.S. Attorney: Pistol provider unaware of school shooters' plans, After tragic life lesson, Columbine students return to class, School resumes today for Columbine students, Littleton Adventist Hospital - Important Phone Numbers, Fact Sheet on Littleton, Colorado School Shooting, CDC: Facts About Violence Among Youth and Violence in Schools, Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools: 1996-97 / 98-030. That was in February 1999. In the two decades since Columbine, first responder protocol has drastically improved. Klebold and Harris went so far as to record videos of themselves at target practice with their weapons, discussing the fame they would receive after their massacre. The two teens bonded over their shared dissatisfaction with school but varied significantly in their personality traits and dispositions. This required more than mere firepower and so Harris and Klebold built pipe bombs over the course of several months before the attack. While Brown distracted her, Harris covered himself and a nearby rock with fake blood, letting out a scream before playing dead. "I think the evidence will show there were more than two people involved in this," the sheriff said. As Brown began to confront him, Harris interrupted him: It doesnt matter anymore. Showing Editorial results for columbine high school massacre. The massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 is the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. I had a difficult time looking at people in the eyes because of the guilt I felt. A final bomb was placed in a park three miles from school, set to go off before the others. Strangle them, squish their head, rip off their jaw, break their arms in half, show them who is God.. Circa 1998-1999. 24, 1999 to pays respects to 12 students and one teacher who died at Columbine High School following a shooting by two students. From there, they began to shoot anyone they encountered and deigned worth their time. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. The Columbine shooting in Littleton, Colo., was at the time the deadliest school shooting since the late 1960s, threatening to provide a tragic backdrop to the NRA's previously scheduled annual convention in Denver. Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were hardly the bullied outcasts bent on revenge that they were made out to be they wanted to see the world burn. Maybe they've come up with something I don't know about," Thomas told the Post. For dozens of other parents, of course, it was worse. In 1998, junior Brooks Brown discovered his name on that very website and that Harris had threatened to murder him. Feb. 26, 2004. Brown had also noted his friends car was parked far from its usual place. 02:45 - Source: CNN. "The most difficult thing was just providing support and help to everyone.". Colorado's governor has signed four gun control bills five months after a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub. He had apparently forgotten that he had just turned 18 and no longer needed a middle man. All Rights Reserved. You feel responsible? Not only could the Columbine shooting have been prevented, it should have been. May 1999. Brown then shook his head and walked away from campus, weighing whether to skip next period. A Final Solution, like that of the Nazis, was what would save the world: Natural Selection the same message printed on his shirt during the shooting. On April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. He looked into making napalm, and at one point tried to recruit Chris Morris into what he had planned for these explosives playing it off as a joke when the other refused. "Made that point earlier. In a presentation to a conference of psychologists years after the shooting, Dwayne Fusilier of the FBI presented his belief that, based on his homicidal fantasies, skill at lying, and lack of remorse, Eric Harris was a budding young psychopath. In response, one of the participants raised an objection, I think he was a full-blown psychopath. A number of other psychologists agreed. Some students wouldn't participate in fire drills. Victims families fought and failed in Colorado courts to get documents released. Investigators say he sold the gunmen a semiautomatic TEC DC-9 handgun that was used in the attack. Farber is now a filmmaker and released a documentary this month in which she followed several of her fellow survivors as they returned to the Columbine room where they were when gunfire erupted. By spring 1998, they were already planning Judgement Day or NBK, shorthand for the film Natural Born Killers. Sometimes these missions were in retaliation for perceived slights at school, but mostly they were for fun. In this week's StoryCorps, we hear about a student who endured the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, and later returned to the school as a teacher. A security officer stands guard at the entrance to the Columbine High School library on June 15, 1999, nearly two months after the shooting. On the contrary, Klebolds parents even combined their efforts by forming their own real estate company substantially increasing the familys income and providing a comfortable home environment for Klebold. So it's a double-edged sword.". Brown joined the theater department and Klebold followed, working backstage as a soundboard operator. Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in the school cafeteria during the massacre. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images. Circa 1998. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris Victims of the Columbine Shooting The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, occurred when two teens went on a. Klebold allegedly shouted Were going to kill every one of you, and the Columbine shooters began shooting at people indiscriminately and tossing pipe bombs around without any notion of who exactly would be killed. The evidence provides no definitive explanation, and the question continues to haunt us all. Shortly after 12 p.m., the two teens turned their guns on themselves. When I first saw the Web pages, I was utterly blown away, said Brown. ), But these state-level restrictions haven't had a big impact on mass shootings, Garrett said, "because mass shootings are not impulsive. The governor was flanked by activists wearing red shirts reading, "Moms Demand Action," students from a Denver high school recently affected by a shooting, and parents of a woman killed in the . "The message that it will send is that even the NRA was brought to its knees, and the media will have a field day with it.". Klebold attended prom with a group of 12 friends on Saturday, while Harris went on a first and last date with a girl he recently met. He was attacking what school represented to him: the point of indoctrination into the society he despised, suppressing individuality and human nature., [School is] societies way of turning all the young people into good little robots and factory workers, he wrote on April 21, 1998, continuing, I will sooner die than betray my own thoughts. Updated: May 25, 2022 | Original: November 9, 2009. On the website, Harris AOL profile where he wrote under the name Reb for Rebel, sometimes RebDoomer, he detailed his nocturnal exploits with VoDka (Klebolds screen name), describing various acts of vandalism including building pipe bombs and his desire to kill people namely, Brooks Brown. Ultimately the desire is to regain control. For one parent, Pam Grams, waiting to hear her 17-year-old son be pronounced as safe was indescribable. Brooks, I like you now. Corrections? A few days later, parked at a stop sign by Harris bus stop, Harris shattered Browns windshield with a block of ice. Columbine High School massacre Tools On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. It's a recurrent internal problem with the NRA often its most radical members are also the most passionate, dedicated and outspoken. Reporters were at the school interviewing traumatized teenagers as the events unfolded. Investigative journalist Dave Cullen, author of the 2009 book Columbine, described Harris as the callously brutal mastermind, while Klebold was a quivering depressive who journaled obsessively about love and attended the Columbine prom three days before opening fire.. About half an hour into the attack, Harris and Klebold were in the school library with nearly 50 people at their mercy. April 20, 1999. Kevin Moloney/Getty Images When the bombs failed to detonate, Harris and Klebold began their shooting spree. When that girl said she did not want to continue seeing him, Harris displayed one of his early warning signs. Just as recently as 2017, the biggest mass shooting in U.S. history left Las Vegas in terror and served as a stark reminder that Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold may have been only the beginning of a troubling trend that persists to this day. Because of her "troubling" comments and actions -- including buying three one . "I got to tell you, we got to think this thing through, because if we tuck tail and run, we're going to be accepting responsibility for what happened out there," says NRA official Jim Land. At first, he thought they were fireworks. Charlton Heston (left), then president of the NRA, meets with fellow leaders Wayne LaPierre (far right) and Jim Baker (center) on April 30, 1999, ahead of the NRA's annual meeting in Denver. The NRA considered other options as well, as illustrated by this exchange: NRA OFFICIAL KAYNE ROBINSON: Is there something concrete that we can offer? The west entryway to Columbine High School, with flags marking points where bullet casings were found. After 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech in 2007: "This is a time for people to grieve, to mourn, and to heal. "The dirty secret of this day and age is that political gain and media ratings all too often bloom on fresh graves. In an apparent answer to his parents concerns about his future, he wrote: THIS is what I want to do with my life!, Almost exactly a year before the Columbine shooting, Harris came the closest to explaining why he would shoot up a school. Wikimedia CommonsEric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold in the school cafeteria during the Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999. And thanks to new security measures -- like surveillance cameras -- overall crime in schools, including theft and sexual assault, has decreased, said Garrett. When emergency services arrived, the pair planned, they would detonate bombs attached to Klebolds car and demolish any rescue efforts. Before the SWAT team finally entered the building at 1:38 PM, Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had carried out a vicious massacre with seemingly no shred of pity for any of their victims. In total, he killed 32 victims and injured 23 others before turning the gun on himself. But as he stepped into the hall, "My worst nightmare became a reality." However, none of these theories was ever proven. Hammer, a longtime NRA lobbyist who once served as its president, weighs in with an unyielding view. Two were placed in the cafeteria to bring down the ceiling and allow Harris and Klebold to shoot students as they fled. Still, imposing liability on business owners for the criminal acts of third-party shooters remains a challenging legal case for victims to make. He wanted to be a domestic terrorist. The duos waning interest in academics was soon reflected in Klebolds grades. Is there anybody we ought to be talking to? On April 20th 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 13 people and then turned the guns on themselves. For his book on the shooting, "Columbine," Dave Cullen analyzed media coverage and found that in the immediate aftermath of the Littleton attack, network news shows broadcast more than 40 . March 6, 1999. hide caption. He was more than angry, it seemed from his own words, but genuinely of the belief that he was bigger and more powerful than the rest of the world which he desperately wanted to quash. This union, of course, didnt turn into the blueprint for a school shooting overnight. Before they eventually turned the guns on themselves, the two shooters reportedly taunted their victims with a glee so disturbing it could understandably sound fictional. To protect our source and in keeping with prior practice, we did not provide the tape. What changed between August 10, 1998 his last suicide threat and the attack on April 20, 1999, is unknown. Of course, the day of the shooting proved they hadnt learned quite as much as theyd thought. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/columbine-high-school-shootings. A third measure . "Don't anybody kid yourself about this great macho thing of going down there and showing our chest and showing how damn tough we are. Another question of protocol concerned the school resource officer, with whom the gunmen exchanged gunfire outside before storming the school, DeAngelis said. While the school shooting is largely remembered by most to have gone as the pair planned, this couldnt be further from the truth. In 1999, however, Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold became the nations first poster boys for the phenomenon and the first to be widely misunderstood. Though April 20 was Adolf Hitlers birthday, it was actually only a coincidence that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold carried out their attack on that particular date. No Easy Answers: The Full Story Of The Columbine High School Shooting. "The first thing that crossed my mind was, 'This has to be a senior prank,'" he told ABC News. Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty ImagesColumbine High School students and family members mourn during a memorial in Littletons Clement Park on the two-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting. The differences between the two are striking. May 1999. They rush straight to the gunfire. March 6, 1999. The motives for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to carry out the Columbine High School massacre had nothing to do with bullying or revenge and the real truth is even more disturbing. One of his last entries reads: Im stuck in humanity. Mark Leffingwell/Getty ImagesA pump-action shotgun and assault rifle used in the Columbine High School shooting. They were hooting and hollering and getting a big joy out of this.. It was a Tuesday one nobody in Littleton, Colorado would ever forget. Members of Congress, one participant says, have asked the NRA to "secretly provide them with talking points. 11; Overwhelmingly, the offender is a single shooter (98 percent), primarily male . This would induce mass panic, and force the entire school to flood outside into the parking lot only for Harris and Klebold to spray rounds of bullets into every single person they could. Drawings from the journal of Eric Harris. ", Over the next two decades, this unapologetic message would come to define the NRA's tone in the wake of mass shootings at American schools. Now, most police departments have rapid response officers who carry heavier assault weapons and are trained to enter immediately and "follow the firepower," said Garrett. On the morning of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Columbine High School senior Brooks Brown noted something strange. Through Klebolds personal writings discovered after the shooting, it became clear that he had been suicidal for a while. The people you are most likely to get in that member meeting without an exhibit hall are the nuts," says LaPierre. ", "And it worries me when I hear communities and government agencies talking about cutting out counselors in the building, cutting out psychiatric help, cutting out mental health support," he said. Hes not saying that hes gonna beat me up, hes saying he wants to blow me up and hes talking about how hes making the pipe bombs to do it with.. After letting them inside, the pair explained they were running missions toilet papering houses, spray painting graffiti, and setting fire to potted plants. Finally, after one argument that winter, Brown told Harris he would never give him a ride again. But other school shootings barely made a blip on the national stage. In his imagination, games were full of violence, and he was always the hero. Compared with Harris and Klebolds ambitions, the Columbine High School attack was a complete failure. While the claim that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were part of the Trenchcoat Mafia was yet another myth, they certainly dressed like the group a school clique of self-described loners and rebels who dressed in all-black garb. Jefferson County Sheriffs Department via Getty ImagesEric Harris practices shooting a weapon at a makeshift firing range not long before the Columbine shooting. They regularly attended football games, cheering on Harris older brother, the starting kicker of the Columbine High School football team, the Rebels. Thirty-seven percent last less than 5 minutes. April 20, 1999. In that time, they had murdered 12 students and one teacher in what was then the deadliest school shooting in American history. The boys and their coworkers would routinely goof around during slow hours, drinking beer and shooting bottle rockets off the roof. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were charged with theft, criminal mischief, and criminal trespassing for breaking into a van and stealing belongings therein. The shooting took place almost exactly eight years after the Columbine shooting, when a 23-year-old student opened fire at two locations on campus - first in a dorm room and then in an academic building across campus.

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