Remembering the Columbine High School shootings 10 years later

Eric Harris (left), Dylan Klebold (right)

During the time I hit “post” to put this online, 10 years ago on April 20, 1999, 2 Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at school during lunchtime armed and ready to kill. Students and teachers thought it was a prank but soon learned otherwise. In the end, 14 students and 1 teacher were killed, including Harris and Klebold who each committed suicide in the library at the end of their attack. Just over 2 dozen other students were injured but survived. Ground zero for most of the killing was in the school’s library. Within the course of 45 minutes, Harris and Klebold would wreak havoc on a Denver suburb that would leave it emotionally scarred forever. We watched as a nation and asked ourselves over and over again “why?”

Unfortunately, 10 years later a school shooting doesn’t affect the same way it did before. It’s become all too common, and it’s not just school aged children. Adults, weary at work situations, have also taken on indiscriminate shooting rampages at places of work.

Bullying, music lyrics, violent video games, graphic Hollywood movies, lack of spirituality, gun control, and so many more explanations have been offered but none of theme seem to conclusively explain what happened at Columbine High School.

There is sooooo much information out there that it feels overwhelming to collect my thoughts in a single post. I’ve parsed through a lot of it and am including some video and links that I thought were among the best that I encountered in my search. If you have any additional links to share, please include them in your comment or via my CONTACT page.

columbinememorial

For a detailed timeline account of the Columbine High School massacre, I found that wikipedia has a really good entry. The resources cited at the end are also helpful.

Wikipedia– COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL MASSACRE

Below is a link to Columbine High School. There have been several local events today and over the past weekend. The link I’m including lists events in association with their Community Day 2009.

Columbine High School official site– COMMUNITY DAY ACTIVITIES

If you google just about anything related to Columbine High School, this Denver Post article has consistently come up on top. I eventually read it, and it’s an excellent article that takes a look at several students who survived the shooting 10 years later as they reflect on the events that are now fading into distant memory. As you read, you also get to know the individuals as they are today- education, family, and careers.

Denver Post– 10 YEARS LATER, COLUMBINE REMEMBERS

Below is an interview with Anne Marie Hocchalter, former Columbine High School student. Her story is profound. Surviving with a spinal chord injury, Anne Marie had to face yet another tragedy as her own mother committed suicide 6 months after the shooting having struggled a lifetime with depression.

Here is a 2001 report from the weekly news show 60 minutes about an investigation they conducted into Harris and Klebold and the resultant shooting. Like so many, people wanted to know if there were warning signs or anything that the parents and school system could have or should have done to potentially prevent this incident from ever occurring. Don’t watch this and get mad all over again at Columbine, rather, take note and make sure you are doing your part today to make sure we are vigilant about preventing any potential future incidents.

Talk about bad luck, Regina Rohde attended Columbine High School during the shooting 10 years ago and was also attending Virginia Tech 8 years later during the shooting that shocked our nation again. Below is a link to the NBC Today Show interview she did with Meredith Vieira shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting. It’s interesting to see that she’s still processing things and more importantly her views that are shared by many residents in Littleton, Colorado who resented the invasive media presence during the time the once “anonymous” small town was grieving.

NBC Today Show– INTERVIEW WITH REGINA ROHDE (click VIDEO link 1/2 way down page on the right for the interview)

underOvr says:

April 20, 2009 at 11:13 am

This is an informative post,

I think there is always an apparent hope that things will change that prevent any re-occurrence of another tragedy.

I believe folks thought the same in the aftermath of the 1966 University of Texas shootings by Charles Witman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman).

While each incident becomes more graphic and brutal, each assailant leaves the telltale red flags that signal I am a potential societal problem about to explode. The only problem is that no one pays attention. Until it’s too late.

Pepper says:

May 18, 2009 at 6:41 am

Murder kill for occasion, school shooter have their subjective justifications. The society has to unfold the enigma of WHY they do that. Paintball, Weapons, FPS, mental disorder or gender – falls to short for an explanation.
Everyone could be driven into violent behavior – if your existence seems to be at stake you would run amok too.

Quest to understand school shootings

In Gods Hands says:

February 22, 2010 at 6:32 pm

My name is Abby Melana. I thought it was sooo sad. Maybe they were made fun of or personal problems…. i beleive nobody is bad,just driven to ACT bad. We are all in Gods hands and under His eyes. I feel bad for the peoeple who lost their lives. Very sad. I goto Jorge Mas Canosa Middle.

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