Columbine High School massacre

The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting that occurred on April 20, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County. it also involved a fire bomb to distract the fire crew (propane tanks turned into explosives placed in the cafeteria) and 99 explosive devices. The perpetrators were seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who murdered 12 students and a teacher. In addition, another 24 people were injured and three more were injured while trying to escape from the school. The perpetrators later committed suicide.

Though their exact motives are unclear, the personal journals of the perpetrators document that they wanted their actions to rival the Oklahoma City bombing and other deadly incidents in the United States in the 1990s. Harris also stated a desire to crash planes against the Empire State or the Twin Towers, a thought that would materialize on 9/11. The attack was defined by USA Today as a "suicide attack planned as a major terrorist bombing".

The massacre sparked a debate about gun control laws, subcultures and bullying. It led to an increased emphasis on school safety with zero-tolerance policies, and a moral panic about the gothic subculture, gun culture, social outcasts (although perpetrators were not excluded), and the use of of pharmaceutical antidepressants by adolescents.

Background

In 1996, Eric Harris created a private website on America Online for the purpose of saving game levels that he and his friend, Dylan Klebold, created for use in the video game Doom. On this site, Harris created a blog that included jokes and short writings with thoughts about his parents, school, and his friends. By the end of the year, the site contained instructions related to the manufacture of explosives, and blogs describing the problems he and Klebold were causing. In early 1997, blog posts began to show the first signs of Harris's growing anger against society.

Harris's site attracted very few visitors and caused no concern until March 1998. Klebold gave the page's address to Brooks Brown, a former friend of Harris's. Brown's mother filed several complaints with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office regarding Harris, because she believed he was a dangerous young man. The website contained various death threats against Brown. Klebold knew that if Brooks accessed the site, he would discover the content and inform the parents of it, and the authorities would probably be notified of the fact. Once Brown's parents accessed the site, they contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Investigator Michael Guerra was briefed on the website.When he accessed the page, Guerra discovered numerous violent threats directed against students and teachers at Columbine High School. On the same page you could see some sentences that Harris had written about his general hatred of society, and his desire to kill those who bothered him.

Harris said on his page that he had made some homemade bombs and also added a blacklist of individuals, although he did not set out any plans on how to attack them. Since Harris had posted on his page that he possessed explosives, Guerra wrote a draft statement sworn, requesting a search warrant for Harris's home. The affidavit also mentioned the suspicion that Harris was involved in a February 1998 bomb-related case. The affidavit was ultimately not filed. It was withheld by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and was not released until September 2001, as a result of an investigation by the television show 60 Minutes..

Following the disclosure of the statement, a series of grand jury investigations into the cover-up activities of Jefferson County officials began. The investigation revealed that senior county officials had met days after the massacre to discuss releasing the affidavit to the public. Because the statement supporting a judge's issuance of a search warrant for Harris' home was lacking in information, it was decided not to reveal its existence at an upcoming press conference. And the points at issue were never disclosed to anyone outside of the grand jury. After the press conference, Guerra's original documents disappeared. In September 1999, a Jefferson County investigator was unable to find the documents during a secret search of the county's computer system. A second attempt in late 2000 found copies of the document within the Jefferson County archives. The documents were reconstructed and published in September 2001, but the original documents are still missing. The final grand jury investigation was revealed in September 2004.

On January 30, 1998, Harris and Klebold stole tools and other equipment from a van parked near the town of Littleton. Both youths were arrested and later attended a joint court hearing, pleading guilty of theft. The judge sentenced the duo to participate in a program designed to steer youth away from wrongdoing. There they both attended required classes and spoke with program officials. In one of their classes they were taught anger management. Harris also began attending therapy classes with a psychologist. Klebold had a history of alcoholism and had failed a diluted urine test, but neither he nor Harris attended substance abuse classes.

Harris and Klebold were eventually released from the show early due to positive actions in their classes; they were both on probation. Shortly after Harris and Klebold's court hearing, Harris's online blog disappeared.. Her website was reverted to its original purpose of posting levels created by users of the Doom video game. Harris began writing in a journal, in which he recorded his thoughts and plans. In April 1998, as part of his mandatory program, Harris wrote a letter of apology to the owner of the van. However, before long he was furiously taunting the owner of the vehicle in his diary, stating that he believed he had the right to steal something if he wanted to. Harris continued scheduled meetings with his psychologist until a few months before he and Klebold committed the massacre at Columbine High School.

Harris dedicated a section of his website to posting content related to his progress with Klebold on his gun collection and bomb building (they later used both to attack students at the school). After the website was made public, AOL permanently removed it from its servers.

Medication

In one of the meetings with his designated psychologist, Harris complained of depression, anger and suicidal thoughts. As a result, he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft. He also complained of having trouble concentrating and anxiety problems. In April, his doctor switched his prescription to Luvox, a similar antidepressant drug.

Diaries and videos

Harris and Klebold began writing in journals shortly after their arrests in 1998. In these journals, they both documented their arsenal with secretly kept videotapes.

In their journals they wrote about an alleged plan for a major bombing that would rival the one that occurred in Oklahoma City. His journals contained various writings on ways to escape to Mexico, hijacking a plane at Denver International Airport and crashing it into a building in New York City, and details about the planned attack. The duo hoped that detonating their homemade explosives in the cafeteria at the busiest time of the day would kill hundreds of students and then they would shoot survivors fleeing the school. Later, when police vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, and reporters arrived at the school, bombs planted in the youths' cars would go off, killing emergency personnel and others. On the day of the massacre, the explosives in their cars did not go off.

The youth recorded videos documenting the explosives, ammunition, and weapons they had obtained illegally. They revealed how they hid their weapons in their homes, as well as how they misled their parents about their activities. The pair filmed videos of target practice in the nearby wooded areas, as well as areas of the school they planned to attack. On April 20, approximately thirty minutes before the attack, they made a final video saying goodbye and apologizing to their friends. and relatives.

Firearms

In the months leading up to the attack, Harris and Klebold purchased two 9mm firearms and two 12-gauge shotguns. Their friend, Robyn Anderson, had inadvertently purchased a carbine and the two shotguns used in the massacre at the Tanner Gun Show in December 1998. Through Philip Duran, another friend, Harris and Klebold later purchased a pistol from Mark Manes for $500.

Using instructions obtained from the Internet, Harris and Klebold constructed a total of 99 improvised explosive devices of various designs and sizes. They cut down the barrels and stocks of their shotguns to make them easier to conceal.

On the day of the massacre, Harris was equipped with a 12-gauge Savage-Springfield 67H pump-action shotgun (which fired a total of 25 rounds) and a 9mm Hi-Point 995 carbine with thirteen 10-round magazines (which fired a total of 96 rounds). Klebold was equipped with a 9mm Intratec AB-10 semi-automatic pistol with a 52-round, one 32-round, and one 28-round magazine; and a Stevens 311D 12-gauge double-barreled sawed-off shotgun. Klebold primarily fired the TEC-9 pistol a total of 55 rounds, while he fired a total of 12 rounds from his double-barreled shotgun.

The Massacre

Minutes before the shooting

On the morning of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold planted a small firebomb in a field about two miles south of Columbine High School, and two miles south of the fire station. The bomb it was set to go off at 11:14 a.m. for the purpose of distracting firefighters and emergency personnel from the school. This partially detonated and caused a small fire that was quickly extinguished by the water alarms.

At 11:14 a.m. m. Harris and Klebold arrived separately at the school: Harris parked his vehicle at the south entrance and Klebold parked at the west entrance. The school cafeteria, their first bomb target, was among their parking lots. After parking their vehicles which also contained bombs (scheduled to detonate at 12:00), the duo found themselves near Harris's car. and armed himself with two 20-pound propane bombs before entering the cafeteria. The youths planted the explosives at approximately 11:17 a.m. m. inside the cafeteria and returned to their cars waiting for the explosion with the aim of shooting anyone who tried to escape the building. Had the bombs exploded at full power, they would have killed or injured about 488 students in the cafeteria and possibly caused the roof to collapse, collapsing part of the library into the cafeteria.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner was assigned to the high school as a full-time armed and uniformed school resource officer. Gardner usually ate with the students in the cafeteria, but on April 20 he was eating in his patrol car in the northwest corner of campus. Columbine security personnel were unaware of the bombings in the cafeteria because a guard was replacing the school security videotape. The bags containing the bombs were first visible on the new security tape, but were not identified as suspicious objects. No witness recalled seeing the duffel bags being added to the 400 or more backpacks present in the cafeteria.

When the two young men returned to their vehicles, Harris was met by Brooks Brown, a friend and classmate with whom he had recently settled a long series of disagreements. Brown, who was in the parking lot smoking a cigarette, was surprised to see Harris, whom he had recently noticed missing from an important exam. Harris did not seem concerned when Brown reminded him of this fact, remarking "It doesn't matter anymore." Harris then told Brown, “Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home". Brown, feeling uncomfortable, left the premises. Several minutes later, students leaving Columbine for lunch observed Brown walking down South Pierce Street, away from the school. Meanwhile, Harris and Klebold armed themselves in their vehicles and waited for the bombs to go off.

11:19 AM m. Start of the shooting

When the cafeteria bombs failed to explode, Harris and Klebold reunited and walked to the school. Both armed, they climbed the stairs to the top of the west entrance, positioning themselves on the same level as the sports fields to the west of the building and the library inside the west entrance, just above the cafeteria. From this vantage point, the west entrance to the cafeteria was located at the bottom of the stairs, to one side of the senior parking lot.

At 11:19 a.m., 17-year-old Rachel Scott was having lunch with her friend Richard Castaldo, both sitting on the grass by the west entrance of the school. Castaldo said he saw one of the boys throw a bomb that he just detonated, so he didn't take it very seriously. At that moment, another witness heard Eric Harris yelling "Go, go!" at the same time that they took out their weapons, hidden until then in their trench coats, and began shooting at Castaldo and Scott. Scott was hit four times and died instantly. Castaldo was hit eight times (in the chest, arm, and abdomen) losing consciousness. It is not known who fired first, but it is known that Harris's bullets killed Scott, and Castaldo reported that she was hit before he was. he.

After the first two shots, Harris removed his trench coat and pointed his 9mm carbine down the west stairway at three young men: Daniel Rohrbough and Sean Graves, both 15, and Lance Kirklin, 16. Kirklin later claimed to have seen Klebold and Harris standing at the top of the stairs, before they opened fire. The three young men were shot. Inside the school, some of the students believed that they were witnessing a prank by the two upperclassmen. But in the cafeteria, Dave Sanders (a computer science and business teacher, and coach of the school's track team,) quickly realized that this was not a prank, but rather a deliberate attack on the school.

Harris and Klebold turned and began shooting west at five students sitting on the grassy slope next to the steps and in front of the west entrance to the school. There, 15-year-old Michael Johnson was shot. hit in the face, leg and arm, but ran and managed to escape; 16-year-old Mark Taylor was shot in the chest, arms and leg and fell to the ground feigning his death. The other three escaped unharmed.

Klebold walked down the steps to the cafeteria. He walked over to Lance Kirklin, who was already injured and lying on the ground, weakly calling for help. According to witnesses, Klebold said "Sure, I'll help you" and then shot him in the face, critically wounding him. Daniel Rohrbough and Sean Graves had come down the west stairs when Klebold and Harris had been distracted by the students on the lawn. Graves, paralyzed from the waist down, crawled over the threshold of the cafeteria's west entrance and collapsed. Klebold fired at Rohrbough, who was already mortally wounded from shots previously fired by Harris at close range in the left flank, then stepped over Sean Graves into the cafeteria. Officials speculated that Klebold went to the cafeteria to check on the propane pumps. Harris shot down several students sitting near the entrance to the cafeteria, severely wounding and partially paralyzing 17-year-old Anne-Marie Hochhalter as she tried to flee. Klebold left the cafeteria and went upstairs to join Harris.

They fired at students near a soccer field, but did not hit any of them. They walked towards the west entrance, throwing bombs, few of which detonated. Meanwhile, inside the school, Patti Nielson, an art teacher, had noticed the commotion and walked towards the west entrance with 17-year-old student Brian Anderson. years. The teacher intended to go outside of her to tell the two students to control themselves, thinking that Klebold and Harris were filming a video or pulling a prank. As student Brian Anderson opened the first set of double doors, Harris and Klebold fired through the windows. They wounded Anderson with broken glass and Nielson in the shoulder with shrapnel debris. Nielson scrambled to his feet and ran down the hall toward the library, alerting the students to the danger and telling them to hide under desks and keep quiet. Nielson dialed 911 and hid under the library's administrative desk. However, Anderson was left behind, trapped between the outer and inner doors.

11:22 AM m.: Police response

At 11:22, the custodian called Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner over the school radio, requesting assistance in the senior parking lot. The only paved route took him around the school to the east and south onto Pierce Street, where, at 11:23 a.m., he heard on his police radio that a woman was injured and assumed she had been struck by a car. As he was getting out of his patrol car in the senior parking lot at 11:24 a.m., he heard another call on the school radio saying, "Neil, there's someone shooting in the school." Harris, at the west entrance, he immediately fired his rifle at Gardner, who was 200 yards away. Gardner returned fire with his service pistol but, not wearing his goggles, was unable to hit the shooters.

Thus, five minutes after the shooting began and two minutes after the first radio call, Gardner was involved in a shootout with Harris and Klebold, there were two dead and ten wounded, Harris had fired ten times and Gardner four, before Harris fell back into the building. Neither of them was injured in this exchange of fire. Gardner reported on the police radio of him: "Shots in the building, I need someone in the south parking lot with me."

The shooting distracted Harris and Klebold from the injured Brian Anderson. Anderson escaped to the library and hid inside a break room. The duo moved along the north corridor, dropping bombs and shooting in the direction of anyone they encountered. Klebold shot Stephanie Munson in the ankle, though she was able to get out of the school. They fired in the direction of the windows toward the east entrance of the school. After going through the hallway several times and shooting the students they saw, Harris and Klebold headed towards the west entrance and entered the library hallway.

Paul Smoker, a motorcycle patrolman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, was filing a traffic ticket north of the school when the call came in about an "injured female" at 11:23 (probably referring to the late Rachel Scott). Taking the shortest route, he rode his motorcycle over the grass between the athletic fields and headed toward the west entrance. When he saw Scott Taborsky following him in a patrol car, he abandoned his motorcycle to take cover in the car. The two were rescuing two injured students near the playing fields when the shootout between Harris (located at the west entrance) and Gardner (located in the parking lot) broke out at 11:26. Smoker returned fire from the top of the hill, firing three rounds, and Harris withdrew. Once again, no one was hit.

Inside the school, teacher Dave Sanders had successfully evacuated students from the cafeteria; some of them went up the stairs that led to the second floor of the school.. The stairs were located around the corner of the library corridor in the south corridor. By then, Harris and Klebold were inside the main hallway. Sanders and another student were down the hall still trying to secure the school. As they ran they met Harris and Klebold, approaching from the corner of the north corridor. Sanders and the student turned and ran in the opposite direction. Harris and Klebold fired at both of them. Harris hit Sanders twice in the chest, but missed when trying to shoot the student. The latter arrived at the science classroom and warned everyone present to hide. Klebold approached Sanders, who was lying alive on the floor, to search for the student but eventually returned with Harris down the north hallway.

Sanders dragged himself into the science area and was led by a teacher into a classroom filled with thirty refugee students. They posted a sign in the window reading "one bleeding to death" to alert police and medical personnel to Sanders' location. Due to his first aid knowledge, student Aaron Hancey was brought into the classroom. With the help of a fellow student named Kevin Starkey and teacher Teresa Miller, Hancey administered first aid to Sanders that lasted three hours, trying to stop the blood loss by wearing student's T-shirts in the room. Using a phone, Professor Miller and several students maintained contact with the police outside the school. All students in this room were safely evacuated later.

11:29 AM m. – 11:36 a.m. m.: Massacre in the library

FBI chart of the Columbine library, marking the location of the deaths.

As the shooting unfolded, Patti Nielson contacted emergency services by phone, telling her story and urging students to hide under desks. According to the transcripts, her call was received by an operator 911 at 11:25:05 a.m. m. The call time from when they answered until the shooters entered the library was four minutes and ten seconds. Before entering, the shooters threw two bombs into the cafeteria, which exploded. Another bomb was thrown into the corridor of the library, it exploded and damaged several lockers. At 11:29 a.m. m., Harris and Klebold entered the library, where a total of 52 students, two teachers, and two librarians had hidden.

As they entered, Klebold yelled, "Get up!" The scream was so loud that it was heard on the recording of Patti Nielson's 911 call at 11:29:18. Staff and students hiding in outer library classrooms later said they also heard the attackers say: "All athletes stand up, let's kill the ones with white caps!" (The wearing of a white baseball cap at Columbine was a tradition among sports team members, usually athletes.) Seeing that no one stood up, Harris said, "Okay, I'm going to start shooting anyway.". He fired his shotgun twice at a desk, unaware that a student named Evan Todd was hiding under it. Todd was injured by wood splinters, but was not seriously injured.

The shooters walked to the opposite side of the library, two rows of computer equipment. Todd hid behind the administrative desk. Kyle Velasquez, 16, was sitting in the north row of computers. Police later said that he had not hidden under the desk when Klebold and Harris had first entered the library, but had taken cover under the computer table. Klebold shot and killed Velasquez, hitting him in the head and back. Klebold and Harris left their bags full of ammunition on the south or bottom row of the computers and reloaded their weapons. They walked to the windows that opened onto the outside stairway. Noting police evacuating students out of the school, Harris said, "We're going to kill some cops." He and Klebold began shooting out the windows in the direction of the police, who returned fire. No one was injured at this crossing.

After firing through the windows at the evacuating students and the police, Klebold fired his shotgun at a nearby table, wounding three students: Patrick Ireland, Daniel Steepleton, and Makai Hall. He then removed his trench coat. As Klebold shot all three, Harris grabbed his shotgun and walked to the bottom row of computer counters, firing a single shot under the first desk without looking. He struck 14-year-old Steven Curnow with a fatal neck injury. Harris then fired under the adjacent table, wounding 17-year-old Kacey Ruegsegger with a shot that passed completely through her right shoulder and hand, also grazing her neck and severing a major artery. As she began to gasp in pain Harris told him, "Stop complaining."

Harris walked over to the table in front of the bottom row of computers, tapped the surface twice, and knelt down, saying "Peek-a-boo" to Cassie Bernall of 17 years old, before shooting her once in the head, killing her instantly. Harris had been holding the shotgun in one hand at this point and the gun struck her face from the force of the shot, breaking her nose. Initial reports suggest that Harris asked Bernall, "Do you believe in God?", to which he answered yes, before he died. However, three students who witnessed Bernall's death, including Emily Wyant, who had hidden under the table with her, have testified that Bernall did not exchange words with Harris after his initial taunting, even though Wyant had been praying. before his murder.

After fatally shooting Bernall, Harris turned to the next table and found Bree Pasquale. Harris asked Pasquale if she wanted to die, and she responded with a plea for her life. Witnesses later reported that Harris seemed disoriented, possibly because his nose had started to bleed. As Harris taunted Pasquale, Klebold watched as Patrick Ireland tried to help Hall, who had sustained a knee injury. As this occurred, Klebold fired at Ireland a second time, hitting him twice in the head and once in the foot. Ireland was knocked unconscious, but survived.

Klebold made his way to another set of tables, where he discovered 18-year-old Isaiah Shoels, 16-year-old Matthew Kechter, and 16-year-old Craig Scott (Rachel Scott's younger brother) hiding under a table. All three were popular athletes. Klebold tried to get Shoels out from under the table. He called out to Harris, referring to him by his online identity (REB) and yelling, “REB, there's a black in here!” Harris left Pasquale and joined him. According to witnesses, Klebold and Harris taunted Shoels for a few seconds, making derogatory racial comments. Harris dropped to one knee and shot Shoels once in the chest at close range, killing him instantly. Klebold also dropped to his knees and opened fire, hitting and killing Kechter. Harris then yelled; "Who's ready to die next?" Craig Scott was not hit by the bullets and faked his death over the blood of his two friends Harris turned and threw a CO2 bomb at the table where Hall, Steepleton and Ireland were located. He landed on Steepleton's thigh, and Hall quickly tossed it away from his table.

Harris walked over to the bookshelves between the west and center tables in the library. He jumped on one and shook it off, then fired in an unknown direction within that general area. Klebold walked through the main area, past the first set of bookshelves, the central desk, and a second set of bookcases in the eastern area. Harris walked from the bookshelf where he had shot, passing through the central area to meet Klebold. The latter fired at a display case located by the door, then turned and fired at the nearest table, striking and wounding 17-year-old Mark Kintgen in the head and shoulder. He then turned to the table to his left and fired, wounding 18-year-old Lisa Kreutz and Valeen Schnurr with the same shotgun blast. Klebold moved to the same table and fired his TEC-9, killing 18-year-old Lauren Townsend. At this point, the badly injured Valeen Schnurr began to scream, "Oh my God, oh God!" In response, Klebold asked Schnurr if she believed in the existence of God; when Schnurr replied that she was, Klebold simply asked "why?" before walking away from the table.

Harris walked over to another table where two girls were hiding. He leaned over to look at them and called them “pathetic.” Harris then moved to another table where he fired two shots, hitting 16-year-olds Nicole Nowlen and John Tomlin. When Tomlin tried to move away from the table, Klebold kicked him. Harris taunted Tomlin's attempt to escape, before Klebold shot the young man repeatedly, killing him. Harris walked to the other side of the table where Lauren Townsend lay dead. Behind the table, a 16-year-old girl named Kelly Fleming was sitting next to the table. Harris fired at Fleming with her shotgun, hitting her in the back and killing her instantly. He fired into the table behind Fleming, again wounding Townsend and Kreutz, and wounding 18-year-old Jeanna Park. An autopsy later revealed that Townsend died from the earlier shots inflicted by Klebold.

The shooters moved to the center of the library, where they continued to reload their weapons on a table. Harris noticed a student hiding nearby and asked him to identify himself. It was John Savage, an acquaintance of Klebold's, who had gone to the library to study for a history test. Savage said his name, believing that they were only addressing the athletes (something Savage was not), in an attempt to save his life. He then asked Klebold what they were doing, to which he replied, "Oh, just killing people." Savage asked if they were going to kill him. Klebold hesitated for a moment, then finally told her to go away. Savage fled immediately and escaped through the library's main entrance.

After Savage had left, Harris turned and fired his carbine into a table, missing the ear of 15-year-old Daniel Mauser. As Mauser fought back, pushing a chair towards Harris, Harris fired again, striking Mauser in the face at close range, killing him. Both shooters moved south and fired randomly under another table, critically wounding two 17-year-olds, Jennifer Doyle and Austin Eubanks, and wounding 17-year-old Corey DePooter. DePooter, the last to die in the massacre, at 11:35 a.m., was later credited with keeping his friends calm during the massacre.

There were no further injuries after 11:35 a.m. m. They had killed 10 people in the library and wounded 12. Of the 56 hostages in the library, 34 remained unharmed. Investigators would later discover that the shooters had enough ammunition to have killed them all.

Several witnesses later said they heard Harris and Klebold comment that they no longer found emotion in shooting their victims. Klebold was heard saying, "Maybe we should start stabbing people, that might be more fun" (both young men were equipped with knives). They moved away from the table and headed toward the library's main counter. Harris threw a Molotov cocktail towards the southwest end of the library, but it did not explode. Harris walked along the east side of the counter, and Klebold joined him from the west; they converged near where Todd had moved after being wounded. Harris and Klebold made fun of Todd, who was wearing a white cap. When the shooters demanded to see his face, Todd partially raised his cap so that his face was obscured. When Klebold asked Todd for a reason why he shouldn't kill him, Todd said, "I don't want any trouble." Klebold said, "Trouble? You don't even know what the hell problem it is!" The shooters discussed killing him, but eventually left.

The shooters decided to leave the library. Before leaving, Klebold turned and fired once into an open library staff break room, hitting a small television. Before they left, Klebold knocked over a chair on top of the computer terminal and several books on the library counter, just above the office where Patti Nielson had hidden.

The two left the library at 11:36 am. m., ending the hostage situation there. Cautiously and fearing the return of the shooters, 34 uninjured survivors and 10 wounded began to evacuate the library through the north gate, which led to the sidewalk adjacent to the west entrance. Kacey Ruegsegger was evacuated from the library by Craig Scott. Had she not been evacuated at this point, Ruegsegger would likely have bled to death from her injuries. Patrick Ireland, unconscious, and Lisa Kreutz, unable to move, remained in the building. Patti Nielson joined Brian Anderson and staff from the library in the outside break room, which Klebold had shot earlier. They locked themselves in and remained there until they were released, at approximately 3:30 p.m. m.

12:08 PM m.: Suicide of the perpetrators

After leaving the library, Harris and Klebold wandered through the school firing occasional shots, but finding no human targets. At approximately 11:44 AM. m., the duo were captured by the site's security cameras as they headed back to the cafeteria. After leaving the cafeteria, Harris and Klebold walked down the south and north aisles. At 12:02 p.m. m., they re-entered the library, which was empty of surviving students except for Patrick Ireland and Lisa Kreutz, who were injured and unconscious. Once inside they fired again through the windows towards the police. At approximately 12:08 p.m. m., Harris and Klebold committed suicide, Harris shooting himself in the roof of the mouth and Klebold shooting himself in the temple.

Patrick Ireland had regained and lost consciousness multiple times after being shot twice by Klebold. He crept to the library windows where, at 2:38 p.m. m., he opened the window intending to fall into the arms of two SWAT team members who were standing on the roof of an emergency vehicle, but instead fell directly onto the roof of the vehicle in a pool of blood. Members of the nSWAT team]] were later criticized for allowing Ireland to fall more than two meters to the ground without doing anything to try to ensure that he could get down safely or prevent him from falling. Lisa Kreutz, 18, with gunshot wounds to the shoulder, arms, hands and thighs, remained in the library. In a later interview, she recalled hearing something like "you in the library" around the time of the suicides of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Kreutz lay in the library, keeping track of time by the sound of the school bells, until the police arrived. She had tried to move, but was disoriented.She was finally evacuated at 3:22 p.m. m. she along with Patti Nielson, Brian Anderson, and the three library employees who had hidden in the break room.

End of the crisis

At noon, teams from the military, SWAT, and ambulances pulled up outside the school. At 3:00 p.m. m., Dave Sanders died of his injuries before the SWAT team could move him for medical attention. He was the only teacher who died in the attack. Officers found the lifeless bodies in the library at 3:30 p.m. m.

Immediate sequel

On April 21, agents from the bomb disposal squad toured the school. At 10:00 a.m., the bomb disposal squad declared the building safe for officers. At 11:30 a.m., a sheriff's spokesman stated that the investigation was ongoing. Thirteen of the bodies were still inside the school when investigators photographed the building.

At 2:30 p.m. At m., a press conference was held by Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas and Sheriff John Stone, in which they said they suspected others had helped to plan the shooting. Formal identification of the dead had not yet taken place, but the families of the youths believed to be dead had been notified. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, the bodies were gradually removed from the school and taken to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office for identification. At 5:00 p.m. m., the names of many of the dead were made public. An official statement was released, saying that there were 15 confirmed deaths and 27 injuries related to the massacre. As the bodies of Harris and Klebold were removed from the school, heavy rain began to fall over the school.

On April 30, high-ranking officials from Jefferson County and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office met to decide whether to disclose that Michael Guerra (Sheriff's Office detective) had drafted an affidavit for a search warrant at Harris's residence more than a year prior to the date, based on their investigation of Harris's website and its activities. They decided not to release this information at a press conference held April 30. Over the next two years, Guerra's original project and research archival documents were lost. This was ruled "suspicious" by a grand jury convened after the file's existence was reported in April 2001.

In the months following the shooting, media attention focused on Cassie Bernall, murdered after being asked about her belief in God. Bernall had answered "Yes" to this question prior to her murder. Emily Wyant (the closest living witness to Bernall when she died) denied that she and Harris had any such conversation.

Survivor Valeen Schnurr claims that she was the person Harris questioned about her belief in God. Joshua Lapp thought Bernall was the one questioned but could not correctly pinpoint her location, and she was closer to Schnurr during the shooting. Another witness, Craig Scott, whose sister Rachel Scott was also portrayed as a Christian martyr, claimed the argument was with Bernall. When asked to indicate where the conversation was coming from, he pointed to the spot where Schnurr had been shot. However, Bernall and Rachel Scott were both considered Christian martyrs by evangelical Christians.

In popular culture

Music

Songs and albums that refer to the fact:

• "The Kinslayer" by the Finnish metal band Nightwish, from his album Wishmaster (2000).
• "Roman Reloaded" (2012) by Nicki Minaj.
• Marilyn Manson's "The Nobodies" from his album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2001).
• Eminem’s “I’m Back” The Marshall Mathers LP (2000).
• "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People (2010).
• The disk Teenwitch (2014), from the underground rap singer Bones.
• "Rap God" by Eminem.
• "Cassie" of the Flyleaf band.
• "Arizona" by Natos, Waor and Recycled J.
• "April 20 1999" by Beach Goons.
• Leftover Crack's 40 OZ.
• "Fire and Fear", by Ska-P (2008).
• "Rampage" by Nicole Dollanganger.
• "As Columbine" by Ferta.
• Skynd 'Columbine'.
• "Errores" by Mitsuruggy.
• The song "Shooters" by OLDBOY together with Sick Child (2016).
• «Claudio Paul Caniggia» by A Bandita Indie de La Plata (2018).
• "A New Hope" by Five Iron Frenzy.
• "This Is Your Time" by Michael W. Smith.
• The EP The Art Of Human Nature (2021), from the underground rap singer Sxmpra.
• The singles "Agony" part I and II of the singer Brain-Death.
• "Powerstation" by Alexander Perls.
• The Anatomy Of A School Shooting of the rapper (ILL BILL) of the album [What's Wrong With Bill]

Cinema and series

Films, series and documentaries that refer to the event or similar events:

• Duck! The Carbine High Massacre(1999), by William Hellfire and Joey Smack.
• Bowling for Columbine (2002), Michael Moore.
• Bang Bang You're Dead (2002) from Guy Ferland.
• Elephant (2003), by Gus Van Sant.
• Zero Day (2003) of Ben Coccio.
• Cold Case: Rampage (2006).
• Klass (2007), by Ilmar Raag.
• I'm Not Ashamed (2016), based on the life of Rachel Scott, the first student murdered, according to the newspapers she had written, with a strong message about her belief in Jesus.
• American Horror Story: Murder House (2011).
• 13 Reasons Why (2018 and 2020).
• Hello Herman (2013), Michelle Danner.

Literature

Books that reference the shooting:

• The novel The flower of fire, by the Spanish author Alba Quintas Garciandia (Nocturna Ediciones, 2017).
• The novel The fabulous adventures of Professor Furia and Mr. Crystalby the Spanish author César Mallorquí (Ed. Edebé, 2015).
• The Testimony Book Balance of a mother (A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, 2016), by Sue Klebold, mother of Dylan Klebold.

Video Games

Video games that deal with the fact:

• Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
• Pico's School