Columbine School Shooting

On April 20, 1999, two high school seniors took numerous guns and explosives to school. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attended Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado. The two boys shot and killed twelve students and one teacher before committing suicide. April 20, 1999 was a traumatic day for Columbine High School.

Beginning of Day

At 6:15 am Klebold and Harris went to the local bowling alley for their bowling class. The boys never failed to attend that class. The only indication that was given of what was to happen later on that day was that Klebold wore a shirt with the words "Serial Killer" on it. No one thought anything of that shirt because he had worn it before. No other indications were given for their actions. The boys acted as if it was a normal day (Columbine High School Massacre).

"A Lunch" (11:10)

Harris and Klebold did not arrive at school until approximately 11:10 am when A lunch was just beginning. Klebold parked his car in the Senior Parking Lot while Harris parked in the Junior Parking Lot. The act of parking the cars was almost simultaneous. (Columbine High School Massacre)

One boy was outside the school and Klebold and Harris went to talk to him. The boy was a friend of Harris’s. Harris told him that he liked him and that he should leave the school. They shooters did not tell him why to leave and other than that incident no one else had any suspicion of what was to come.

The boys each took a duffel bag and placed it in the cafeteria. They blended in with the other four hundred bags in the cafeteria. Inside the bags were bombs each weighing twenty pounds. The bombs were fixed to explode at 11:17 am, "the exact time for the high school cafeteria to be packed with the maximum number of students possible" as Harris had determined (Columbine Shooting 2 of 10). The bombs were explosive enough to take the down the cafeteria and the library. The custodian removed and rewound the security tape for the cafeteria. The act of placing the bombs was not recorded. Once the tape had been put on record the bags could be seen among the other bags (Columbine High School Massacre).

Plans

Harris and Klebold’s initial plan was to place the bombs and then wait outside near their cars for the bombs to explode. If anyone were to try to escape he/she would be shot. Once the bombs had exploded the boys were going to go back into the school and kill approximately five hundred additional students and teaches. (Columbine High School Massacre).

The bombs that the boys had placed in the cafeteria did not explode so they needed to come up with a new plan. They armed themselves with duffel bags and a backpack. Inside the bags were two sawed-off shotguns, a 9mm semi-automatic carbine rifle and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Once they were armed they walked into the school ready to shoot people.

First Shots

Once the boys made it to the top of West Staircase, Harris was heard yelling, "GO! GO!" Rachel Scott and her boyfriend Richard Castaldo were sitting in the grass eating their lunches. Castaldo was shot and critically injured. Scott was shot twice the second shot killed her. It is unclear who shot Scott first and who shot her the second time and killed her (Columbine High School Massacre.)

West Staircase

Three freshmen, Daniel Rohrbough, Sean Graves and Lance Kirklin, were walking up the staircase when Harris and Klebold began shooting at them. "[Kirklin] reported seeing them standing at the top, when suddenly they began shooting towards him." (Columbine High School Massacre.) All three boys were wounded; Rohrbough fell into Graves, who foot had been shot, and Kirklin was also shot.

Next the boys turned on a group of five students in the grassy knoll. Michael Johnson was shot but managed to run and escape. Mark Taylor played dead after he was shot and survived. The other three students escaped unharmed. (Columbine School Massacre.)

The shooters then split up. Klebold shot Kirklin when he limped into the cafeteria and fell in front of the door. Rohrbough tried to make it down the stairs but Klebold saw him coming and shot him in the head, killing him. Klebold then stepped over Kirklin and walked over to see why the propane bombs had failed to explode. In the intervening time, Harris shot at a different group of students in the grass. Anne-Marie Hochhalter was injured when she tried to escape. Klebold walked back up the stairs to meet back up with Harris. Once they met up a "witnesses [heard] one of the gunmen shout, ‘this is what we always wanted to do. This is awesome!’" (Columbine Shooting 2 of 10).

The shooters shot at students in the nearby soccer field but they hit no one. "… [They] threw pipe bombs at parking lot, roof, hillside to the East, none of which detonated." (Columbine High School Massacre).

Patti Nielson, a teacher, thought that the guns were toy guns and that the boys were just playing a prank or filming a video. She was on her way outside to tell them to stop it, when Brian Anderson opened the doors and the boys shot out the windows. Shrapnel and glass hit Anderson and Nielson. Nielson went into the library and hid under a desk in the library while Anderson was caught between the exterior and interior doors. A police deputy shot at Klebold and Harris in order to distract them from Anderson. Anderson then went and hid in a utility closet. Harris returned fire at the deputy. The officer called in on his radio code 33, officer in need of assistance. Harris’s gun jammed so he ran inside with Klebold. (Columbine High School Massacre). "Harris fires about ten shots at the deputy with his rifle before his weapon jams." (Columbine Shooting 2 of 10). The deputy fired four shots at Harris before Harris turned away. When Harris turned away the deputy thought that he had shot him.

The boys went down the North Hallway shooting at everyone and throwing pipe bombs. Stephanie Munson was shot in the ankle but she managed to make it out of the school and across the street safely to a house. Klebold and Harris shot out the windows in the East Entrance. (Columbine High School Massacre).

The shooters stood outside the bathroom taunting the students hiding in there. They would say things like, "We know you’re in there" and "Let’s kill anyone we find in here." But the boys never entered the bathroom to kill anyone. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Klebold and Harris went up and down the halls shooting at everyone. No one was injured or killed. They then headed to the West Hallway and the Library Hallway. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Dave Sanders, a teacher and the football coach, was evacuating the cafeteria when the shooters shot Sanders. Sanders struggled over to the Science area where a teacher took him into a room. Two students rushed to Sander’s side to administer first aid but it was too late, Sanders died at approximately 3:00 pm. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Library

Before entering the library the boys threw two pipe bombs down the South Hallway. Both of them exploded. They also threw one in the Library Hallway, which exploded. While they were throwing the bombs and laughing Patti Nielson called 911. Inside the library were fifty-two students, three library staff, and Ms. Nielson.

When Harris and Klebold first entered the library they shot and injured Evan Todd. Then they yelled, "Get up!" so loud it was heard on the 911 recording. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Klebold and Harris told everyone wearing a white hat to stand up. Wearing a white hat is a sign of being a jock at Columbine High School. No one stood up so one of the shooters said, "Fine, I’ll start shooting." Kyle Velsaquez hadn’t ducked and was shot and killed instantly. Isaiah Shoels, Matthew Ketcher, and Craig Scott were hiding underneath of a table when Klebold came over and tried to pull Shoels out. Klebold wasn’t strong enough to pull Shoels out so he called over for help. Klebold made a racist remark to Shoels and then Harris shot and killed him. Klebold opened fire under the table and shot and killed Ketcher. Scott played dead in his friends’ blood. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Klebold and Harris looked out the window and saw police taking students out of the building. They shot at the police who returned fire. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Another group of three boys were hiding under a table. Klebold shot at them and injured Patrick Ireland, Daniel Steepleton, and Makai Hall. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Harris stuck his gun under a table and started to fire. Steven Curnow was killed. Kasey Ruesegger was injured. Harris knelt down next to a table and said, "peek-a-boo" and then shot Cassie Bernall and killed her. The recoil from the gun hit Harris’s face and made his nose bleed. (Columbine High School Massacre).

A girl named Bree Paquale was sitting next to a table. Harris asked her if she wanted to die and she made a plea for her life. Harris made fun of her and her plea for life, but he left her alone. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Ireland came out of hiding to help one of those wounded nearby. Klebold shot him in the head twice more and once more in the foot. Ireland was unconscious and miraculously alive. Harris took a carbon dioxide bomb and threw it towards Ireland, Hall, and Steepleton. Hall picked the bomb up and threw it back to the boys but it landed past the boys and exploded. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Harris went over to the bookcases between the west and center sections of tables. "He jumped on the bookcases and shook them, then shot at something in that general area, it is not known what he shot at, since no one could see him at that point." (Columbine High School Massacre).

Klebold shot and injured Mark Kingten. With one bullet, Klebold shot and injured both Lisa Kreutz and Val Schnurr. He shot and injured Lauren Townsend. Schnurr said, "Oh, God help me!" Klebold asked if she believed in God. Schnurr replied no then yes trying to get the answer right. Klebold asked her why and Schnurr said it was because that’s what her family believed. Klebold taunted her for a while and then left her. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Behind the tables Harris shot Nicole Nowlen and John Tomlin. Tomlin tried to crawl away but Klebold shot and killed him. Harris shot Kelly Fleming in the back and killed her instantly. Harris shot Townsend and Kreutz again and wounded Jeanna Park. The autopsies show that Townsend was killed with the first shot. (Columbine High School Massacre).

An acquaintance of Klebold’s asked what he was doing. Klebold told him, "Oh, just killing people." Klebold’s acquaintance asked if he was going to die and Klebold told him to leave the library. The boy made it out safely. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Harris shot Daniel Mauser in the face at close range; Mauser died. Then both shooters opened fire under the tables. Jennifer Doyle and Stephen Eubanks were injured. Corey DePooter was killed. Those shots were Klebold’s and Harris’s final deadly shots except for their suicides. (Columbine High School Massacre).

The shooters walk out of the library and 11:37 am. Right after the shooters left thirty-four uninjured and ten of the injured left the library through the North Exit. Ireland and Kreutz were left behind. Nielson and the three library staff hid in the break room. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Wandering

The boys threw a small firebomb into an empty storage closet. They waited until it exploded to run off. Next they shot into an empty science classroom. They shot at anything but didn’t injure anyone. The shooters made no attempt the enter the rooms with students in them. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Klebold and Harris went back to the cafeteria. Harris went over to the propane bombs they had placed earlier. He tried to detonate one of them but it failed to go off. One of them threw a Molotov cocktail bomb as they left. Once they had exited the cafeteria the bomb exploded but the sprinklers put out the fire. (Columbine High School Massacre).

Suicide

Klebold and Harris entered the library between 12:02 pm and 12:05 pm. They walked over to the window and began shooting at the police that were outside. They walked over to where Ketcher’s and Shoels’s bodies lay and there they shot themselves. (Columbine High School Massacre). "Shortly after the last gunshot is fired from the library window at law enforcement and paramedics, Harris and Klebold killed themselves." (Columbine Shooting 4 of 10).

At 2:38 pm Ireland regained consciousness and tried to exit through the window. The SWAT team helped him escape. Between the time span of 3:25 and 3:30 Kreutz was taken out of the library and Ms. Nielson and the three library staff were removed from the closet in which they had previously locked themselves. (Columbine High School Massacre).

On April 20, 1999, many people were killed or injured because two boys took guns to school. It was an atrocious day for the students and teachers of Columbine High School as well as their families.

Works Cited

“Columbine High School Massacre.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 15 April 2005. 16 April 2005 http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Columbine_High_School)massacre

“Columbine Shooting 2 of 10” 18 April 2005 http://www.knowgangs.com/schoolresources/menu_003.htm

“Columbine Shooting 4 of 10” 18 April 2005 http://www.knowgangs.com/schoolresources/menu_005.htm