Columbine High School massacre

The Columbine High School rampage, also known as the Littleton School Massacre, occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, a suburb of Denver near Littleton in the US state of Colorado. In the rampage, two graduating seniors shot dead twelve students aged 14 to 18, a teacher and themselves in the space of just under an hour. Another 24 people were injured, some seriously. Many of the survivors reported on the occasion of the 20th anniversary in 2019, still suffering from the consequences of the event.

The perpetrators - 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold - had prepared the mass murder for months and planned it not as a rampage but as a bomb attack on their school in which several hundred people were to die. However, due to a technical error, the bombs they placed in the school cafeteria for this purpose did not explode, which is why they spontaneously changed their plan and began shooting at their fellow students.

Their motives could not be clarified with certainty. While the rampage was often classified in the media as an act of revenge for bullying suffered at school, the investigating authorities assumed after evaluating the diary and video recordings left behind by the perpetrators that they were primarily concerned with becoming famous. Some experts also suspect a political or ideological motivation. Both perpetrators were diagnosed with severe mental disorders post mortem.

It was not the first rampage at a school in the United States, but due to the enormous media coverage, the case attracted worldwide attention for the first time. The crime sparked numerous public debates about possible causes and accomplices, with discussions focusing on bullying, psychotropic drugs, the responsibility of parents and teachers, the influence of the music industry and fictional violence on young people, subcultures, and US gun laws, which were often criticized for being too liberal. In response to the incident, many schools increased their security measures and the US police changed their tactics in intervening in rampage incidents.

The act is considered a turning point in the culture of the United States because of its far-reaching consequences and is counted among the most significant historical events of the 1990s, especially by Generations X and Y. The Columbine High School rampage has become the archetype of the school shooting. The post-crime surge in school shootings around the world is often referred to as the "Columbine effect" because many of the later spree killers cited the Littleton school massacre as inspiration for their own acts. In the U.S., students born after April 20, 1999, are referred to as the "Columbine generation," which has never experienced a world without school shootings.

Administrative division

Events shortly before the rampage

On the morning of April 20, 1999, the perpetrators left their parents' homes before sunrise. Instead of their bowling lessons, they visited a store where they obtained the propane cylinders for their bombs. They then drove to the Harris family home, where they finished building the bombs, loaded their cars, and shot a short goodbye video - the final part of the Basement Tapes. They then drove separately to a nearby park, where they placed a bomb, the timer of which they set for 11:14. The explosion of this bomb was initially intended to distract the police from the actual crime scene, but only caused a grass fire that was ignored by the emergency services.

According to authorities, the perpetrators arrived around 11:10 a.m. at the south parking lot of Columbine High School, which had an estimated 2,000 students and 140 staff members on its grounds that day. Klebold parked his car in front of the school cafeteria, and Harris parked just under 100 yards away near the student entrance. Brooks Brown saw Harris arrive, walked up to him and asked him why he had not shown up for class that morning. According to Brown, Harris responded that it no longer mattered and asked him to leave the school grounds. Brown complied with the request.

According to the police report, the perpetrators entered the cafeteria, which was monitored by four video cameras and where around 500 people were present at the time, at shortly after 11:14 am. They unnoticedly dropped off two gym bags, each of which contained a propane bomb with a timer set for 11:17 am. Due to a videotape change, the time between 11:14 a.m. and 11:22 a.m. was not recorded by the surveillance cameras, which is why the placement of the bombs was not filmed, according to officials. Later, however, an amateur evaluation of the released video footage cast doubt on the lack of recording and the official timing of the crime. According to the amateur analysis, Harris could already be seen on the video tape at 10:58 a.m. carrying in one of the two sports bags; a few seconds later, Klebold appeared in the image of the surveillance camera with the other sports bag in his hand. The authorities did not comment on the amateur analysis and pointed out that the investigation of the case had been completed.

11:19: Start of the rampage

Fatalities and injuries at the start of the rampage

One. Rachel Joy Scott, 17, killed.

2. Richard Castaldo, 17, injured.

3. Daniel Lee Rohrbough, 15, killed.

4. Sean Graves, 15, injured.

5. Lance Kirklin, 16, injured.

6. Michael Johnson, 15, injured.

7. Mark Taylor, 16, injured.

8. Anne Marie Hochhalter, 17, injured.

9. Brian Anderson, 16, injured.

10. Patricia Nielson, 35, injured.

11. Stephanie Munson, 16, injured.

12. William David Sanders, 47, killed.

After placing the bombs in the cafeteria, the perpetrators returned to their cars where they armed themselves and waited for the explosion. As this failed to occur due to a technical error, they spontaneously changed their plan and opened fire on nearby students at 11:19 a.m. at the top of the stairs to the west entrance of the school. They also detonated pipe bombs and threw them down the stairs and onto the roof of the school building. The first fatality was 17-year-old Rachel Scott, who had been spending her lunch hour on the lawn in front of the west entrance with Richard Castaldo, a student of the same age, and was shot by Harris. Castaldo suffered multiple gunshot wounds and sustained permanent paraplegia from the waist down. Daniel Rohrbough, Sean Graves and Lance Kirklin were struck by multiple gunshots as they were coming up the stairs. The 15-year-old Rohrbough succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Next, the perpetrators shot at a group of five students who were on a hill next to the stairs. Michael Johnson and Mark Taylor were seriously injured, while the three other students escaped physically unharmed. While Harris continued to lash out, Klebold went down the stairs to the side entrance of the cafeteria to see - as investigators later surmised - why the bombs had not exploded. On the way, he shot again at Rohrbough, who was already mortally wounded, and at close range at Kirklin, who was also lying wounded on the ground. The latter survived, but later had to undergo several surgical operations. Graves, paralyzed from the waist down by his gunshot wounds, had made it to the side entrance of the cafeteria in search of cover, where he remained and played dead when Klebold stepped over him as he entered the cafeteria.

At the beginning of the rampage, students in the cafeteria had thought the shooting heard from outside was a senior prank or a film production for Harris and Klebold's video class. The teacher, William David "Dave" Sanders, on the other hand, had recognized the danger early on and told the students to get to safety, whereupon they had fled the cafeteria or hid under tables and in the kitchen. Klebold briefly looked around the cafeteria without firing or approaching the bombs, and then returned to Harris on the stairs, from where they continued to fire on fleeing students. Anne Marie Hochhalter was struck by Harris' gunfire in the process and suffered permanent paraplegia from the waist down.

Teacher Patricia Nielson, who was supervising recess inside the building, believed it was a video shoot with toy guns when she spotted Harris with his gun through the glass panes of the front door and made her way outside to stop it. It wasn't until Harris shattered the glass door, wounding her in the shoulder with a grazing shot, and student Brian Anderson, who was next to her, was injured by flying shards of metal and glass, that Nielson realized the gravity of the situation. She and Anderson turned and ran into the library, where Nielson told the students present to take cover under the tables.

At approximately 11:22 a.m., Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner, who regularly patrolled Columbine High School, was radioed by a custodian to the school's south parking lot. When Gardner arrived there in his patrol car at about 11:24 a.m., he was fired upon by Harris as he exited the car. Gardner took cover behind his car and returned fire, but missed both perpetrators, who then made their way into the school building, where they shot through the hallways and threw pipe bombs. In the process, student Stephanie Munson was injured and Dave Sanders, who was still busy warning students and getting them to safety, was shot. With the help of a colleague, he was able to be taken to a classroom, seriously injured, where students barricaded themselves in with him, administering first aid and calling 911 several times. He died several hours later due to his severe blood loss before rescue workers were able to get him to a hospital. Around 11:26 a.m., Harris reappeared in the west entrance and engaged in another gun battle with Gardner before retreating back into the building.

11:29 to 11:35: Happenings in the library

Fatalities and injuries in the library

13. Evan Todd, 15, injured.

14. Kyle Albert Velasquez, 16, killed.

15. Daniel Steepleton, 17, injured.

16. Makai Hall, 18, injured.

17. Patrick Ireland, 17, injured.

18. Steven Robert Curnow, 14, killed.

19. Kacey Ruegsegger, 17, injured.

20. Cassie René Bernall, 17, killed.

21. Isaiah Eamon Shoels, 18, killed.

22nd Matthew Joseph Kechter, 16, killed.

23rd Mark Kintgen, 17, injured.

24. Lisa Kreutz, 18, injured.

25. Valeen Schnurr, 18, injured.

26. Lauren Dawn Townsend, 18, killed.

27. John Robert Tomlin, 16, killed.

28. Nicole Nowlen, 16, injured.

29. Kelly Ann Fleming, 16, killed.

30. Jeanna Park, 18, injured.

31st Daniel Conner Mauser, 15, killed.

32. Corey Tyler DePooter, 17, killed.

33. Jennifer Doyle, 17, injured.

34th Austin Eubanks, 17, injured.

The perpetrators entered the library at 11:29 a.m., at which time Nielson, three other employees, and more than 50 students were hiding under tables and in adjacent rooms. Because Nielson had called 911 and held the phone line at about 11:25 a.m., the events that followed - gunshots, explosions and exchanges of words - were recorded by the 911 recording. The first four of the 26-minute recording were later released.

After the perpetrators had unsuccessfully asked the jocks present in the library to come out of their hiding places, they took the individual tables under fire. According to eyewitnesses, they had each other's backs and their actions appeared coordinated. After 15-year-old Evan Todd was injured by flying wood splinters, 16-year-old Kyle Velasquez was fatally shot by Klebold's gunfire. The perpetrators then fired through the library windows at police officers who had since arrived outside the school building, but only caused property damage. The police returned fire, whereupon the perpetrators retreated from the windows and continued shooting under the tables and throwing explosive devices. Meanwhile, they taunted and harassed the students cowering under the tables, laughing and bawling.

Klebold's shots injured Daniel Steepleton, Makai Hall, and Patrick Ireland, who were under the same table. (Ireland suffered temporary hemiplegia from his gunshot wounds and lost consciousness several times over the next few hours before making it under his own power to one of the library windows, through which he dropped from the first floor into the arms of rescue workers at 2:38 p.m.). Harris killed 14-year-old Steven Curnow and seriously injured Kacey Ruegsegger. He then shot 17-year-old Cassie Bernall at close range, the recoil of his gun breaking his nose. Witnesses later reported that he appeared dazed from that point on.

In the meantime, Klebold had discovered 18-year-old African-American Isaiah Shoels under a table and insulted him with racist remarks. After unsuccessfully trying to pull Shoels out from under the table, he was shot by Harris. Klebold killed 16-year-old Matthew Kechter, who was next to Shoels. Harris then threw a bomb under the table, under which Steepleton, Hall and Ireland were located. Hall managed to throw the bomb away before it exploded in midair. After Klebold shot Mark Kintgen, he fired under a table near the entrance under which several girls had taken cover. In the process, he wounded Lisa Kreutz as well as Valeen Schnurr and killed 18-year-old Lauren Townsend. Harris shot under another table, injuring John Tomlin and Nicole Nowlen. When 16-year-old Tomlin tried to move out of Harris' line of fire, he was shot by Klebold. Harris then killed 16-year-old Kelly Fleming. His gunfire also injured Jeanna Park and Lisa Kreutz, who had already been shot by Klebold.

The perpetrators allowed only one student to leave the library: When Harris asked who was under one of the tables, John Savage, whom both perpetrators knew, had revealed himself. When asked by Savage if they would kill him, Klebold hesitated briefly and then told him to leave, whereupon Savage ran off. Fifteen-year-old Daniel Mauser, who had been at the table next to Savage, was the only student to fight back, pushing a chair against Harris. He was then shot and killed by Harris. Seventeen-year-old Corey DePooter was the final casualty in the library. He died when the perpetrators fired several shots at him at 11:35 a.m., also injuring Jennifer Doyle and Austin Eubanks. Although the perpetrators had enough ammunition to kill the rest of the students in the library, they did not fire any more shots at them. Columbine author Dave Cullen believes that Harris lost interest in killing at that point and Klebold was indifferent to it all.

11:36 am to 12:08 pm: Final phase and suicide of the perpetrators

At 11:36 a.m., the perpetrators left the library. They apparently wandered aimlessly through the hallways and passed several classrooms where many students were still hiding. Some of them later reported that the perpetrators made eye contact with them through the door windows, but made no move to enter the classrooms. Instead, they fired into empty rooms. Video cameras at 11:44 a.m. filmed the perpetrators coming down the stairs to the cafeteria, where several students were still hiding under tables at the time. By shooting and throwing an explosive device in the direction of the two propane bombs, the perpetrators attempted to detonate them after all, but only caused a fire. The fire drove the students from their hiding places and they ran out through the emergency exits. The activated sprinkler system flooded the cafeteria.

Around 12:00 p.m., the perpetrators returned to the library, where at that time, in addition to the ten dead, only Patricia Nielson, who had hidden in a closet, and the seriously injured Patrick Ireland and Lisa Kreutz were located. The other students had fled through the emergency exits in the meantime. Cullen suspects that the perpetrators wanted to watch the explosion of their car bombs from the library, which was planned for 12:00 p.m., but which also failed to go off due to a technical error. They engaged in a final gun battle with police through the windows before retreating inside the library.

Death of the perpetrators

35. Eric David Harris, 18, suicide.

36. Dylan Bennet Klebold, 17, suicide.

One of the two perpetrators set off another Molotov cocktail, then committed suicide side by side, turning their firearms on themselves. Based on the positions in which their bodies were found, investigators concluded that Harris shot himself first of the two. The Molotov cocktail caused a fire that set off the library's sprinkler system at 12:08 a.m. Based on evidence later recovered at the scene, it was determined that the perpetrators were dead by that time.

Diagram created by the FBI of the Columbine High School library...


Exterior view of Columbine High School showing the stairs to the west entrance and the window front of the cafeteria on the ground floor and the (former) library on the floor above.


FBI-generated diagram of Columbine High School parking lot and cafeteria.

Deployment of police and rescue forces

At 11:23 a.m., the dispatch center had put out the initial emergency call to all police and emergency vehicles located in the vicinity of Columbine High School. In the minutes and hours that followed, nearly 800 officers from 35 different law enforcement agencies arrived on the scene in their vehicles. Officers corralled the school building, watched the exits, evacuated those students who made it out of the building, and provided fire protection. Paramedics and firefighters tended to the injured and transported them to nearby hospitals.

The emergency services later reported chaotic conditions. Hundreds of panicked people fled the school, gunshots and explosions could be heard inside the building, and helicopters circled the grounds. Emergency lines were completely overloaded as hundreds of students still inside the school called for help by cell phone. Police officers questioned those who had fled to get an accurate picture of the situation in the building, but received conflicting information about the number of attackers, their appearance and exact whereabouts, and the weapons they used. Parents who had heard about the Columbine High School shooting on the news made their way to the school and had to be prevented from approaching the building by emergency personnel.

At 12:06 p.m., the first Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team entered the school building, with a second SWAT team following at approximately 1:15 p.m. The officers checked each room in the school in turn and evacuated numerous students, who were taken to nearby Leawood Elementary School, where waiting relatives had gathered in the meantime. According to authorities, at about 2:42 p.m., one of the SWAT teams reached the room where Dave Sanders was located, but for whom any help was too late. At 3:22 p.m., the first officers entered the library and shortly thereafter reported finding the ten victims killed and the deaths of both perpetrators. They also rescued Lisa Kreutz, who was nearly bleeding to death, and evacuated Patricia Nielson from her hiding place and the three other employees from the adjoining rooms. At 4:00 p.m., the sheriff announced the deaths of the perpetrators to the media, mistakenly estimating the death toll at around 25. In fact, 15 people died in the rampage - including the perpetrators. Three of the total of 24 wounded had sustained their injuries while fleeing from the perpetrators.