On this day in 1999of April 20, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 18, and Eric Harris, 17, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By 11:35 a.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded another 23 people. Shortly after noon, the two teens turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. This event made me feel safe around schools with uniforms because it makes it more unlikely for students to bring weapons. It shows that teens may be all able to get weapons easily making me aware of the people surrounding me.
The crime was the worst school shooting in U.S. history (until 33 people, including the gunman, were killed in the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007)and prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the teen gunmen. In the days quickly following the shootings, it was predicted that Klebold and Harris purposely chose jocks, minorities and Christians as their victims. At
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There was belief that Harris and Klebold committed the killings because they were members of a group of social outcasts called the “Trenchcoat Mafia” that was fascinated by Goth culture. Violent video games and music were also blamed for influencing the killers. However, none of these theories was ever proven. Columbine High School reopened in the fall of 1999, but the massacre left a scar on the Littleton community. Mark Manes, the man who sold a gun to Harris and bought him 100 rounds of explosives the day before the murders, was sentenced to six years in prison. In the aftermath of the Columbine shootings, many schools enacted “zero tolerance” rules regarding disruptive behavior and threats of violence from
The shooters names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. There are many different theories on why they did it. They were bullied, they were different, and some say they did it so they would just be remembered. “Klebold was hurting inside while Harris wanted to hurt people” says Dave Cullen who did an investigation trying to understand why two high schoolers could do such a thing. Dylan and Eric were a part of a trench coat mafia. They both had loving families, and were raised good. They wanted the shooting to be the “most deaths in United States history” and it would’ve been if their plan would have worked. They planted bombs in the cafeteria but they didn’t go off, they had a backup plan though. When they realized the bombs didn’t go off they grabbed their guns and headed into the school. If their bombs would’ve gone off it would’ve killed around six hundred people.
On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,
The beginning of the nonfiction, Columbine by Dave Cullen, takes place four days before the Columbine massacre at Columbine High School’s assembly in Littleton, Colorado, just before the weekend of Prom. Ironically, Principal DeAngelis, the one who had hosted the school assembly, provides a lecture of everyone coming back alive and safe after prom. Soon after, on April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at Columbine High School with two bombs based on portable propane bottles, decoy bombs in their cars and across town, and dozens of small pipe bombs, along with guns and ammunition. Their original and only plan was to shoot anyone and everyone who escapes from the building after the bombs detonated, and they had expected to be shot to death by police; however, their plans partly failed when the bombs planted inside the school did not go off. Although their plan of distraction did not succeed as expected, Harris and Klebold entered the school and began shooting and firing pipe bombs for a little over fifteen minutes. Afterwards, after roaming the school for a short amount of time, they returned to the library where most of their victims had died, set off one final bomb, and committed suicide by shooting themselves. Although their bombing failed, the ensued shooting resulted in a new era of school violence and had left “a lasting impression on the world.” However, by the end of the day, the horrifying incident was falsely blamed on bullying, the popular “Goth”
It’s difficult to believe that two high school students could enter their school and begin firing on classmates, but that’s exactly what happened at Columbine. The country was riveted by the news that something so evil could happen by two of their own. Columbine High School, located in Littleton, Colorado, had an enrollment of 1,136 in April 1999. Eric Harris (seventeen) and Dylan Klebold (eighteen) entered Columbine High School on April 19, 1999, at approximately 11:19 AM and began shooting. Due to Klebold and Harris being bullied, the two boys planned an attack to shoot students and staff.
The day of the Columbine Massacre is a day that will forever burn a hole in America’s heart. The nation was shocked at the news that on April 20, 1999, high school seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a precisely planned shooting rampage at their school, Columbine High School. This event killed a total of thirteen individuals, including twelve students and one highly heroic teacher, and wounded many. The reportedly troubled boys had often accused others of having bullied them, which raised the question of how apparent the warning signs were of their rampage. Because this incident was one of the first known school shootings throughout the nation, many of its specific details were taken into account to help protect schools all
One of the nation’s most fatal shootings. The Columbine Massacre “ranked as one of the worst mass shootings in U.S history as well as one of the deadliest episodes of school violence (Library, par. 6).” Twelve students and one teacher were killed, and twenty-three others were incapacitated. It still remains a mystery as to why Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a murderous rampage on that despicable day but the truth remains. The Columbine Massacre was and still is a day many will never forget.
The Columbine shooting is known as the bloodiest, also the deadliest school shooting in U.S history. On April 20, 1999 twelve teenagers, also one adult were killed in a massive school shooting. Dylan Klebold a seventeen year old and Eric Harris a eighteen year old were students at Columbine High School in Colorado. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were arrested in January 1998 for stealing items in a van. In March 1998 Harris threatened Brooks Brown to kill him and would love to kill people. Columbine shooting greatly impacted America due to the price of firearms and movement to firearms school safety was an issue and made schools safer with more enforced rules and safety hazards, people culturally started to become more feared.
School shooters usually do not plan on getting away with the crime because the shooter has adopted a kill or be killed attitude and as such, is willing to take one’s own life. The third element of the social bond theory involvement. Harris and Klebold, spent a substantial amount of time involved in a lot of illegal online activities that included searching for information as to how to make pipe bombs and other explosives. Revenge is a motive in more than 50% of the school attacks because the offenders believed that retaliation is the only way to get revenge for the wrongful behaviors and actions of others, some investigators believed that the Columbine Shooting was out of revenge, and others believed that Harris and Klebold just had severe mental issues. The last element is belief. Belief is a common value system within a culture. Belief plays a role in deviance in two ways, the criminal either neglects the moral beliefs they have been taught, or justifies their deviant behavior beliefs so that they can engage in criminal activity, while still believing it’s wrong. Harris and Klebold belief was a mix of both, they disregarded the social norms of society and they justified their belief even though they knew it was wrong. A tape left behind showed footage of the boys confessing they wrong doing and how devastated their parents would be, but still followed through
This shooting was the worst in United States history, and it left families speechless and people in disarray. Two teens committed the treacherous actions of that day. The speculations were that they did this because of bullying, goth culture, or music or video games; these though were all just theories and were never proven(history). After this event, schools, venues, and events have endured grand security increases in the danger of shooters or other violence. Throughout my school days, I have wondered why we do the silly lock down drills at school, but in reality, lives could be saved in the event of an actual attack on my school. I realized this my eight grade year at Guntown Middle School. There was an unidentified man on campus, a code red lock down would amerce. I still remember sitting under my desk, shaking, and almost to tears. I did not want to be remembered as just another statistic if it was a shooter. But it had been our lucky day, the man who had stirred up all the commotion was just looking for the school’s office. Those fears I experienced however, would stay with me. We all believe that we are invincible and that it would never be us. However, with the world as it is today, no one is safe. I have been affected by the Columbine shooting through security changes in schools that I
The first misconception is that the social cliques that occur in high schools across the nation has a role in this tragedy. Columbine is not simply a school shooting but is rather a shooting that the gunmen chose the school as their tool. School shooters tend to act impulsively and attack the targets of their rage mainly the students and faculty. Harris and Klebold planned for a year and dreamed much bigger. The school served as a means to a grander end, to terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life. The shooters talk in numerous video tapes about their act being bigger than the Oklahoma city bombings. They boasted about making sure there bloody performance was bigger and more memorable. Klebold is particular was quoted as bragging about inflicting “the most deaths in U.S. history. Columbine was
One of the most horrific shootings that scared America was the Columbine High School shooting of 1999. Though not the first mass shooting, this shooting was the first major school shooting with the death of 12 students, 1 teacher, and 21 injured. The two shooters were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Both of the killers were white, male, and 18. They had both parents, were both a part of an
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold changed the way schools handle threat precautions. The secrets they left us; the boys being outcasts, bullies, and the trench coat mafia, leave us with a horrible tragedy to deal with. Which are just some of the proven myths in the shooting of Columbine.
On April 20th of the year 1999, two high school students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went armed into Columbine High School with guns, knives, and a multitude of bombs. The result was the slaughter of twelve students and one teacher. The gunners also turned the guns
On Tuesday, April 20 1999, Columbine High School located in Columbine Colorado an unfortunate massacre happened and many teens lost their lives. The two students responsible for this incident were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These two senior students were responsible for killing twelve students and one teacher; they were also responsible for injuring an additional twenty one students on their rampage. A few other students were injured while trying to escape the school. Columbine is considered the fourth deadliest school massacre in history. It was said to be that there was not one target but everyone was a target on Eric and Dylan’s rampage through the high school
On April 20, 1999, two teens went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. The crime was the worst high school shooting in U.S. history and prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the gunmen, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. There was speculation that the two committed the killings because they had been bullied, were members of a group of social outcasts that was fascinated by Goth culture, or had been influenced by violent video games and music; however none of these theories was ever proven.