No one knows when or how Harris and Klebold first began plotting the killings and voicing their hatred for the world to one another. Judging by the notes and diagrams they left behind, the shootings at Columbine High School had been in the planning stage for more than a year.
The two also left videotapes detailing their plans. They recorded a tour of Harris' bedroom, showing off guns and homemade bombs while they taped, 'dress rehearsals' for the shooting, and the drive in Harris' car to buy what they needed to carry out the attack.
In the videos, both boys laugh at how simple it was to make others belive what they wanted them to. On camera, they vehemntly denied 'copying' any other school shootings - saying they were going to be successful becaue they were going to die.
They also discussed their shared hatred for life, and Harris declared, "There is nothing that anyone could have done to prevent this," calling the shootings a "a two man war against everyone else." The shootings may have been planned to happen on April 19. They mentioned Mondays often, and said, "Today is the 11th [of April, 1999], eight more days." The media has said that the two chose the date for the killings because it was the anniversary of the deadly FBI raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and it was Adolf Hitler's birthday. In their journals, however, neither Klebold nor Harris made any correlations with either date. They never mentioned Waco, Oklahoma City, or Hitler.
In one of the videotapes, they also try to justify their actions. They say that although their friends and family will be devastated, "war is war." At the end of the nearly three-hour tape, the two apologize to their parents and say goodbye. "That's it," Harris says. "Sorry. Goodbye."
Klebold leans into camera range. "Goodbye."
When it comes to the number of shots fired, Eric Harris seems much more aggressive. Harris fired a total of 121 shots, while Klebold fired 67. Harris also used his shotgun much more than Klebold, who fired many more shots with his 9mm. Klebold, although he aimed and fired at some students, appeared to be more of a random shooter, wildly pulling the trigger. Of the two, Harris seemed to 'target' his victims more, and makes use of a shotgun that would have been painful to use, fired less quickly than a 9mm, but would have caused extensive damage. In the library, where ten people died, Eric Harris saw two girls huddling beneath a table. He walked up, slapped the table twice, shouted "Peek-a-boo!" and then shot the two girls with his 12 gauge shotgun. According to witness accounts, Harris' face then began bleeding - the gun's recoil was so strong it had broken his nose. Students say he was laughing the entire time, saying, "Everyone's going to die."
Also in the library, Harris threw a CO2 cartridge under a table. Student Makai Hall grabbed the explosive and threw it further away from the rest of the students before it exploded. By this time, Harris had climbed onto a row of bookshelves and was shaking them back and forth, screaming swear words.
From there, Klebold and Harris made their way back to the library entrance, where Klebold shot out a display case before firing underneath a table, killing one girl and injuring two others.
They continued to peek under tables, shooting and killing. Hiding beneath one table was a friend of Dylan Klebold's. The boy asked Klebold what he was doing, to which Klebold replied, "Oh, just killing people." The student asked if they were going to kill him, but Klebold told the boy to leave the library immeadiately, which he did.
There is some evidence to support the theory that Eric Harris shot and killed Dylan Klebold before committing suicide. Some reports claim that the trajectory of the 9mm bullet that killed Klebold did not match that of a self-inflicted wound, although his autopsy report states that Klebold's death was a suicide. Autopsy findings prove that the bullet entered his left temple.
Although some who commit suicide do not use their dominant hand to pull the trigger, most self-inflicted gunshot wounds are administered with the dominant hand. The recently released autopsy report for Dylan Klebold states that he was right handed, although the bullet that killed him entered through the left temple. In all likelihood, however, Klebold's death was almost certainly a suicide.
It is indisputable that Harris' fatal wound was self-inflicted. He committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with his sawed-off shotgun. The ammunition for a 12 gauge shotgun does not fire a single, neat bullet that enters its target in one piece. Once fired, a shotgun releases several metal balls, of varying size and 'spread' - how far the pellets seperate from one another before striking their target. From close range, the pellets may enter their target in tight formation, and exit in a wider pattern. The resulting injury would have been horrific.
In the videotapes the two boys made, journal entries, and behavior prior to the Columbine shooting, Eric Harris exhibits signs of having a psychopathic personality. Many psychopaths exhibit signs of depression, which may become severe. Harris was prescribed Luvox, a mood-altering medication. He seemed to believe he was above the rest of the world, other races, and sees himself as a victim of society's cruelty.
On the other hand, Dylan Klebold exhibits signs of a borderline anti-social personality disorder. He is a few months younger than Harris, and his journal entries of hatred and murder begin before Harris had started writing the same sentiments, but there is much more blatant, chilling hatred in the words of Eric Harris. For the most part, Klebold allowed Harris to take charge of the plan to kill at Columbine High School. In the boys' homemade videotapes detailing their plan, Klebold, although he echos Harris's murderous beliefs and appears eager to carry out the killings, seems to treat the whole incident as a game. Once the killing had begun, although he seemed to actually take aim and fire at some students, Klebold favored a semi-automatic 9mm, which he fired in a sweeping motion, not specifically targeting any one object or person. In the library, Klebold became destructive and began throwing furniture and breaking windows and computers. Had he lived, Klebold was well on the way to developing a full-fledged psychopathic personality, but at the time of the shootings, he was more a follower of Harris. Still, without Harris' twisted guidance, Klebold would probably have become a psychopathic adult. The seed of homicidal tendencies was already planted in his brain. Eric Harris was a match; Klebold was the explosive that Harris set off. If one had not had the other as a confidant and partner in hate, the Columbine High School shootings may never have happened.
Violence, in all its forms, is part of the American education curriculum. Kids tease, humilate, and make fun of one another for trivialities of all kinds, never realizing that there is a world beyond high school - a world full of many, many kinds of people.
In almost incidents of school violence, the perpetrators were said to have been taunted and subjected to varying degrees of cruelty - from racial slurs to beatings - by other students. There is no question that such an
environment will exacerbate feelings of inferiority, hoplessness, and anger. Many kids dream of revenge against those made their lives Hell, but few materialize their vengeance.
In it indisputable that there was a 'popular' sect of students at Columbine High School. (As there is at every school, to varying degrees.) The school's state wrestling champion was allowed to park his $100,000 Hummer in a 15 minute parking space - all day. A football player repeatedley teased a girl about her breasts - in class, in front of a teacher - with no fear of retribution. And just like any school in America, the sports trophies were displayed in the front of the school, the art in a back hallway. The discrimination was even evident in the yearbook - sports pages were in full color, other clubs were in black and white.
At Columbine, the football homecoming king was on probation for burglary.
The obvious favoritism given to the athletic crowd probably angered many students - including Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. The only difference is that their anger toward certain groups of students materialized into a hatred for everyone. They didn't target just the athletes or just the black kids. They killed indiscriminately.
Discrimination and favoritism - especially in a high school - is so commonplace it's almost to be expected. But when does letting one student get away with a little bit more cross the line into a serious violation of rights?
It has been years since the shooting at Columbine, and now, too late, people are finally asking why some students were habitually allowed to torment others, and never have to worry about getting into trouble.
No one can argue that the schoolroom injustices suffered by Klebold and Harris explain or excuse what they did. One can argue that the obvious favoritism made Harris and Klebold's feelings of worthlessness and vengeance all the more powerful.
The country may blame violent video games, (Harris was a fan of Doom,) hardcore music, movies, and T.V., but in the years since Columbine, a task force has been formed to examine the atmosphere, disciplinary actions, (or lack thereof,) harassment, and special treatment of athletes at the high school.
Police interviews and court records indicate that both Harris and Klebold knew that at their school, athletes could be convicted of crimes and face no suspension or expulsion from school or school-related activities. They also witnessed athletes tormenting other students while teachers and administrators turned a blind eye.
The favoritism at Columbine High School may have gone farther than that at any other American high school. Klebold and Harris once watched as the school's state wrestling champ, Rocky Wayne Hoffschneider, shove his girlfriend into a locker. A teacher witnessed the entire incident and did nothing. Hoffschneider and four other star athletes were arrested for ransacking the Denver apartment of a 22-year-old man, according to court records. The arrests made the papers. Within days, the athletes were back at school. Nine months later they pleaded guilty and got probation.
One gnawing question is this: why was Hoffschneider even allowed at a public school? The 215 pound football player and wrestler transferred to Columbine in 1996, after being expelled from a private school for fighting. He brought with him a criminal record - a 1992 arrest for criminal mischief and 1995 arrest relating to a missing person. But since the star athlete was a juvenile, his records were sealed.
The summer before Hoffschneider came to Columbine, his girlfriend's parents accused his mother and sister of kicking in their door one morning. The girl's father is quoted as saying the Hoffschneider family was "was abusive and physical towards us."
The situation was so serious, in fact, that the girl's parents kept three of their children from attending Columbine when they learned that Hoffschneider had transferred to their children's school.
Harris' friend Brooks Brown also tells of personal torment by athletes. According to Brown, he, Harris, and Klebold were standing outside when a carload of athletes drove by, throwing a glass bottle out of the car, which shattered at their feet. Brown remembers Klebold saying, "Don't worry, man, it happens all the time."
"We all hated it — hated the fact we were outcasts just simply because we weren't in sports," Brown says. "It's insane when you think about it, but it's real."
Columbine school officials have mostly ignored the task force's investigation. Coaches, teachers and principal Frank DeAngelis refused requests for interviews. School spokesman Rick Kaufman said he would answer written questions, but then did not. He also broke an appointment for a scheduled interview. Messages left for coaches, teachers and administrators at home went unanswered.
One of the few who've acknowledged wrongdoing at Columbine High is Jefferson County school board member David DiGiacomo, who says, "I do believe that in all of our schools athletes can appear to have a different status. I think it's OK if kids are working hard and they're good role models, but to give them special privileges, I think we have to be careful."
The day of the schooting, parent Stephen Greene called a school hotline about his son. Instead, he was greeted by the hotline's voice mail. His message was, "I knew something like this in this school could happen."
Stephen Greene has had his own run-in with Hoffschneider. The athlete had been attending Columbine for less than a month when he and another football player began teasing Greene's son, Jonathan, who is Jewish. During gym class, the two would sing songs about Hitler whenever they made a basket - all in front of the gym teacher(also Hoffschneider's wrestling coach,) who did nothing.
The abuse didn't stop there. Greene says, "They pinned him [Jonathan] on the ground and did 'body twisters.' He got bruises all over his body. Then the threats began — about setting him on fire and burning him."
Greene took the incidents to his son's guidance counselor. "They said, 'This stuff can happen.' They looked at me like I was a problem," he said. Greene called the school board, which notified the police. Court records show that Hoffschneider and the other athlete were charged with harassment, kicking and striking, and sentenced to probation.
Hoffschneider was allowed to continue his football and wrestling.
In the meantime, he was building his own little group of cronies. Parent Cecelia Buckner says, "He created a tough little group of guys — probably seven or eight boys that were involved in sports, mostly football, wrestling, who began to take control of the school."
Anthony A. Pyne, a 230-pound football player, was one of Hoffschneider's buddies. After Christmas, Pyne began to tease Aundrea Harwick in English class about her breasts. Harwick went to the teacher, Tom Tonelli, who was also a Columbine football and wrestling coach. His solution? Move to a different seat.
Harwick says that at a Columbine wrestling match at Arvada High School, Pyne announced, "Her breasts are getting bigger." Once again, she told Coach Place. He told her to sit on the other side of the gym.
She then went to a woman at a concession stand, who called the Arvada police. The officer issued Pyne a ticket. Because he was a juvenile, court records are not available, but Harwick said he pleaded guilty and paid a $50 fine.
The next day at school, administrator Rich Long, trying to persuade the girl to drop the charges, told Harwick and her mother that "by her going and getting the police, she's ruining his possibilities of playing on the football team," Elissa Harwick recalled.
Pyne played football anyway. Friends of Harris and Klebold noticed the favorable treatment Hoffschneider received. Their friend Tad Boles recallsm "He always got things that we never could get...respect."
At the beginning of Harris and Klebold's junior year, while in line for registration for new classes, football players shoved a 4-foot-9 freshman girl and called her dirty because she dressed like a hippie. On another occasion a boy called "Little Joey Stair," who was friends with Harris and Klebold, looked up in a hallway to see three football players shoving him into a locker, saying, "Fag, what are you looking at?"
In the halls, body slams were an everyday occurence. The social 'outcasts' - a group including Harris, Klebold, their friends, acquaintances, and others, got pushed around more than most. "A football player reached out and stepped on the cord of one of these girls' Walkmen and it ripped out and fell and broke," remembered Melissa Snow, who graduated in 1998. "She just didn't say anything. For those kinds of kids it's really hard to stand up to a bunch of football players, who are all standing around thinking it's really funny what this guy did to you."
Harris and Klebold seemed to take the taunting to heart. "They just let the jocks get to them," Colby said. "I think they were taunted to their limits."
Some students also seem to understand the factors that drove Harris and Klebold over the edge. in an ABC news interview, Eric Quintana, whose two friends were killed by Harris and Klebold, explains, “With all the animosity between the various social groups at Columbine, something like this was bound to happen.”
Student Thad Martin says the 'jocks' (athletes) teased others for how they dress. "It makes you not want to go to school."
There are cliques at every school, and Columbine was no different. Acceptance and 'fitting in' is a high priority in most teenagers' lives. Columbine senior Alisha Basore describes the subcultures at Columbine. “People are so worried about what their hair is going to look like, what they’re going to wear, so worried that they look cool. It’s a rat race inside the school to see who’s going to be more popular. Everybody’s thinking: Am I going to look cool for the popular kids? Are they going to accept me?”
Quintana agrees, “The jocks rule the school, and they kind of get a big head and think that they own the world.” Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, and the other outcasts at Columbine High faced verbal abuse daily. Students say that people would cut in front of them in the lunch line, throw garbage at them, made fun of their clothing, and were roughed around by others. But killing twelve people over verbal taunts, cuts in the lunch line, and insults?
People have died for less.
Eric Veik, a friend of Harris and Klebold, says the two would often joke about getting revenge, saying, "It’s time to get back at the school.”
“They were tired of those who were insulting them, harassing them,” Veik says. “They weren’t going to take this anymore, and they wanted to stop it. Unfortunately, that’s what they did.”
The ultimate blame for Columbine lies in the hands of Eric Harris and Dyland Klebold. But as with nearly any crime, there were factors that aggravated their already fragile minds, factors that sent them over the edge. No one listened to the kids at Columbine who told tales of harrassment, abuse, beatings, verbal taunting. No one listened to Klebold or Harris. Not their teachers, not their parents, not the police who arrested them for breaking into a car.
The signs that something wicked was to come were everywhere. At first, they may have been subtle, something most adults would dismiss as 'teenage stuff'. However, as time progressed, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were practically screaming, in not so many words, for help.
Unfortunately, no one took the time to look and listen. But someone had to have had an idea as to what Eric and Dylan were plotting...at the very least, the boys' fathers. Wayne Harris, Eric's father, who contacted the Jefferson County police department while the shooting was still in progress. On the tape of his 911 call, he tells the dispatcher, "This is Wayne Harris, the father of Eric Harris. I think my son may be involved in the shooting at Columbine." Dylan Klebold's father, Tom, placed a similar call to 911.
They both knew that no one would listen, and they reacted the only way they knew how - through violence. Death was not real to them. Did they want people to die? Yes, but one can argue that in their stunted emotional states, they never grasped the finality of shooting other students. They wanted revenge. They wanted the people who had caused them pain to feel their pain, a thousandfold. They wanted recognition, in any shape or form. They wanted someone to listen.
The shooting at Columbine High School was one last, fatal cry for help from two boys who had obvious behavorial disorders. It is very sad, for lack of a better word, that no one listened to them, no one tried to help. It is cause for even deeper sorrow that they cried out in the way that they did.
It is neither violent video games or movies that made Harris and Klebold kill. It was not the music they listened to, the clothes they wore. The seeds of violence had been planted early on in the two boys, and spurted out on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold had a cause to support - exact revenge on all those who had wronged them, either real or perceived. Coupled with an already unstable mind, the taunting they were subjected to caused something to snap within them. They retaliated in death. In their twisted pysche, murder was the only solution. They would go from nobodies to infamous criminals, and everyone would finally know their names.
Now, everyone knows Harris and Klebold's names, and what they did. They will live forever in the history of crime. Fame - notoriety - was what they wanted. In death, they have achieved their goal.
We will never know what exactly went on in the minds of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. We will never know what exactly happened in their final moments. If we have learned anything from their act of mass murder, it is that we must learn to accept one another. We must never ignore the fact that at Columbine, violence begat violence. What Harris and Klebold did is inexplicable, inexscusable, and horrific, and there are many lessons we can learn from their crime and its survivors. Whatever happened to raising one's children? Whatever happened to adults listening to children when they need someone to talk to?
Whatever happened to acceptance? Whatever happened to punishing those who do wrong?
The killings at Columbine High School have raised many questions. Now, years later, there are even more teachers, parents, kids - people everywhere - asking why Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris did what they did.
Unfortunately, for some questions, there will never be answers.
When it comes to the Columbine High School shootings, hindsight is always 20/20, and blame must fall on someone or something.
A gubernatorial task force released its findings on May 17, 2001. The task force, though their cause may be called a noble one, really didn't turn up anything we didn't already know.
According to the commission's report, authorities failed to recognize and act on numerous signs that Klebold and Harris were planning the attack for up to a year. I don't believe the police are totally at fault - what could they have done to stop two unstable kids from shooting up their school? Nothing. Dyland Klebold and Eric Harris came from good families, were financially able to hire the most able lawyers, and besides, no one wants to believe that two kids in their teens could exact such vengenace.
Harris and Klebold told friends and acquaintances that 'something would happen', posted threats on their website, and recorded video tapes detailing their plan and showing off their weapons. We know that and have known that ever since the shootings occured.
So what is different about a teenage kid blowing off steam and a teenage kid seriously plotting a media-dubbed massacre? Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris had guns - plenty of guns. Coupled with their videotaped, spoken, and written threats, couldn't this have all been avoided?
Perhaps it could - but no one paid close enough attention to the two to fully grasp their hatred and do something.
One of the major issues tackled by the task force was a search warrant prepared for Eric Harris' home - to look for bomb-making materials. The warrant was proposed about a year before the shootings, but never executed. If authorities had searched Harris' home, would it really have solved anything? What would they have found, if anything?
In the end, it's all just a whole lot of finger-pointing. The victims' families and the public want someone to take the blame. Maybe the police could have done more to stop Klebold and Harris, but in a metropolitan area such as Denver, (Littleton is close enough to almost be considered a suburb,) authorities are swamped with work, with crimes they know they can prosecute. It is a game of pick-and-choose what to investigate, and Denver, like any large city in America, has its fair share of crime.
In the end, there are many, many people at fault, but only two who can truly take the blame. The gunmen's families, friends, the police, they did not pull the trigger. Perhaps they could have taken steps to stop it, but perhaps it was simply fate intervening and teaching us all a lesson: a lesson I'm not sure anyone has fully realized yet.
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