A Brief History of Columbine and Its Effect

Nicole Guzman

Senior Division

Historical Paper

2,500 Words

1

Two people took many days and weeks to plan out hate, but love responded in an instant.

- Patrick Downes, 2016

1

The Columbine High School massacre was the first and most significant school shooting

in America to date. The Columbine massacre resulted in the death of 12 students and one

teacher, including the shooters, along with 20 other injured victims.. The Columbine shooting

occurred in Jefferson County, Colorado on April 20, 1999, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

now having to be prepared in case of future shootings occurring in which many people across the

country have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that schools become more safe and

that students are protected.

Early Signs of Massacre

Months before the Columbine shooting, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris demonstrated

concerning signs and behavior that hinted at their future actions. Essays and conversations by

both students were investigated and illustrated problematic conduct. Dylan Klebold submitted a

1

2

grim essay for his creative writing class two months before the shooting, in which the storyline

and details resembled many ideas from the their deadly plan. His essay describes a story where

one killer, mostly similar to Harris, brutally murders his “preps” as Dylan is a bystander who

recounts what he sees and experiences. This was a huge red flag, which was ultimately ignored

by officials after Dylan’s teacher voiced her concerns , and at the time should have been looked

into. Certain topics such as the one that Dylan addressed in his story were questionable and

concerning, however, at the time, there wasn’t a huge emphasis on certain issues unlike today

5

chatrooms and kept them for himself and later Jefferson County released them. In the three chat

6

rooms, he had casual conversations with a girl that seemed relatively innocent at first, but as the

conversation continued to develop, the topics that Harris introduced became more sinister and

dark. However, Peter Langman Ph.D. explained how Eric’s ideologies arose from his interests

and influences which include Adolf Hitler and Thomas Hobbes. These were not the only hints of

7

their concerning behaviour. According to Park Dietz who is in the Threat Assessment Group, he

4

, CBS Interactive, 17 Apr.

2001.

5

, The New Yorker, 20 June 2017.

6

3

believed that both Dylan and Eric had so much sadness and anger stored inside them from

bullying and other external factors. However, he said that their self inflicted immersion in violent

imagery were due to their anger and depression reaching its highest point, which lead them to

follow the most violent images that society’s culture has to offer. He hypothesized that this

hatred and rage lead them to follow the model of mass murder and subsequently lead them to

think that mass murder was the only solution to their problems. A year before the Columbine

shooting, Dylan wrote in Eric’s yearbook, which presented elements of the plan that had already

10

evidence helped investigators embark on Harris and Klebold’s dangerous behaviour and the

apparent signs that Harris and Klebold demonstrated that would eventually lead up to the horrific

Plotting the Massacre

Prior to the brutal attack, Harris and Klebold prepared a plan to perfect their horrific act

of terror, in which the public slowly became aware of. According to Sally Blanchard, a school

8

9

4

classes every day, they had friends, they were turning in assignments, they were working

towards higher grades in their classes, they were planning the future." This shows how at first

11

the two teenagers seemed like normal kids who were focused in school and working hard for a

bright future. However, this was not the case and many odd signs began to appear. One student

from Columbine High School named Brooks Brown experienced a death threat from Eric Harris

over a year before the Columbine shooting. Harris had his own web page where he had written

In the months before the shooting, the killers kept track of journal entries, to-do lists, and

a hit list. They would mark off every item that they had gotten in their journal, which they would

use for the massacre. Harris and Klebold would create illustrations of how they wanted to look,

the guns they would use, and how they would conceal their weapons on the day of the shooting.

For a school assignment, they were asked to make a promotional video for a business, which the

boys named their assignment “Hitman for Hire.” A former student recounted how Harris and

11

, CBS Interactive, 17 Apr.

2001.

12

High School

.

13

5

Klebold had a friend dress up as an average Columbine student who would talk about wanting a

certain student dead and they filmed each other running around and killing people. Dylan and

Eric were two of the hitmen in the movie, who were dressed in black trench coats. Dylan and

Eric began to collect and stockpile weapons for the shooting. They collected a series of guns,

knives, and different products and substances to make bombs. The boys also made profiles

which mentioned their plan of April 20 as well as how everyone would be “sorry” that day.

This marked the beginning of a long scheme which they would soon play out on April 20, 1999.

black trench coats and had guns in their hands. At first she thought that it was a prank and that

they must have been paintball guns, but as they started shooting students outside the school, she

realized it was not a prank and that students were actually being attacked and injured. Students

were hit by the ruthless bullets shot by Dylan and Eric and they helplessly fell to the ground.

Anne Marie Hochhalter was on of the few students who was shot outside of the school in which

she was shot two times, but survived after a four hour surgery and now lives as a paraplegic.

.,

17

.

18

6

Melissa crouched down behind a wheel as Dylan and Eric began throwing pipe bombs that

exploded in seconds releasing shrapnel. Within minutes, the shooters had moved their deadly

invasion inside the school and Melissa went to get help. The two shooters planted a bomb at

Wadsworth Boulevard field and successfully went off, but the bombs inside Columbine High

School did not have the same fate. At 11:19 am, Dylan and Eric become anxious and tired of

waiting and began to open fire. They celebrated their attack as Dylan went inside the cafeteria to

check on the bombs and Eric proceeded to shoot a teacher and a student. Faculty of the school

Eric began shooting down on on the front counter and students and a few teachers

crouched down under tables. One by one, Eric and Dylan taunted those inside the library and

ruthlessly killed them as they approached the table they were under. One of the victims was

Patrick Ireland who was shot twice as he was trying to help someone close to him who was also

shot. After seven and a half minutes, Dylan and Eric left the library and they continued to the

science room where a bomb went off and ignited a small fire. Then they went to the cafeteria,

where the bombs planted still haven’t went off. The rest of their movements were random, but

19

21

7

then they returned to the library. Minutes after 12:08 pm, alarms in the school went off and Eric

and Dylan shot themselves in the head, which resulted in their self-inflicted death.

22

The Aftermath of Columbine

Once the horrible actions of Dylan and Eric had ended, students, families, teachers, and

communities were deeply impacted. Everyone had a different experience and effect from the

terror caused by the two shooters, but all of them were significant and lasting. After time to

people began to laugh at her until she mentioned that she went to Columbine. Former student

Patrick Ireland suffered from two gunshots and became known as the boy in the window for a

picture that captured his escape to safety. He recalled how it took him three hours to escape as he

passed the dead bodies of classmates ad continued to go in and out of consciousness. However,

Ireland remained positive despite the tragic events and he explained how he knew the importance

of regaining control and continuing on with life.

22

, Cable News Network.

23

Scarred Us, and Made Us Better People.” The New York Times

, The New York Times, 23 May

8

Meanwhile, reporters and news stations struggled to figure out what to film live and what

to show the public as new information began to come in. They knew they had to remain in the

control room to supervise and decide what shots to put on the air. The story lasted ten days and

was seemingly one of the most intense stories that Denver stations had ever covered. They had to

make quick decisions and covering Columbine tested the all the resources that each station had.

decided to forgive Harris and Klebold and explained how it was not her rightful place to judge

26

doing before the shooting. This demonstrates the different levels of trauma, anger, and sadness

27

that people struggled with and how they eagerly yearned for justice.

Also, former principal Frank Deangelis recounted how he questioned his faith, but a local

church leader helped him and told him that he should focus on rebuilding the community. He

remained principal of Columbine High School for over 18 years before he retired. In the years

since, the number of school shootings has increased from Virginia Tech to Parkland. DeAngelis

has created an unfortunate bond with those in similar situations. DeAngelis since then has voiced

25

Shooting Case Study

, Quartz.

26

27

9

tragic shooting could have been prevented if someone was made aware of the

concerning things that the boys were saying and expressing.

Mountain-Lithonia, GA Patch

Brown were interviewed where they questioned the motives and actions of fellow

classmates Dylan and Eric. They go into detail about the signs that the boys

exhibited and how they affected them latter on. This will allow me to expand on

how the shooters were in an unhealthy mental state and how they started to plot

their plan.

News, 7 July 2006,

Evidence and and recounts of the killer’s plans are revealed and explained in

of their plans and what ideas they had regarding their preparation. The evidence in

The documentary on the Columbine High School shooting depicts the

committed the deadly acts. It demonstrates specific events of the actual shooting,

The specific elaboration of the video offers evidence for their behaviour and

what they did.

found and released to the public to see the acts and behaviour of Dylan and Eric

things that Eric Harris hated in which he personally wrote. It demonstrates how

Guide | Eric Harris Dylan Klebold: Journals,Evidence

,

The website provides images and drawings from Dylan, which he wrote in Eric’s

yearbook. These images allude to the plans that the boys had regarding their

attack and the sinister values and ideas that Dyan portrayed. The yearbook

drawings and writings were on Eric’s 1998 yearbook and were a huge clue about

what they planned to do. This unique evidence will allow me to argue how the

origins of their plans began a long time before the actual shooting and how there

was time to inspect and potentially prevent the shooting.

WBUR

, WBUR, 15 Dec. 2016,

The Boston Marathon bombing was one of the most tragic events in modern day

America. Many of the victims from the bombing faced similar emotions and

explains his perspective of the bombing, which can also correlate to how people

the reader a unique perspective of the outcome of the shooting.

and Eric Harris played out. The information listed will allow me to provide a

.

summarized in specific detail. It provides information about those affected and

and personal stories are evidence of the nightmarish events that occured in the

occurred and the effects that it had on Columbine High School.

, Cable News Network,

The events that occured after Dylan and Eric left the library are summarized in