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What are the causes of the carnage ?


¬ The Columbine Carnage
¬ Aproximate Time-Line
¬ The Search for reasons



"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" Isaac Asimov


¬ The Columbine Carnage


The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in the Colorado, near Denver, in the United States. Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting carnage, killing twelve students and a teacher and injuring twenty-four others. They died committing suicide. It is considered to be the deadliest school shooting, and the second deadliest attack on a school in United States History.

The massacre generates intense public debate about gun control laws and the availability of assault weapons in the United States. Main part of the discussions centered on the nature of high school bullying and on the role of violent movies and video games in American society. The shooting resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a fear of goth culture, heavy metal music, anti-depressants teenagers usage, violent movies and violent video games.





In the beginning...

photoEarly warning signs surfaced in 1996, when Eric Harris created a private website. The original site was developped to host Doom levels that he and his friend Klebold have created for friends. Harris began a primitive blog on the site, which included jokes and small journal entries concerning his thoughts on parents, school, and friends. By the end of the year, the site already contained instructions on how to make explosives, and logs of the mischief he and Klebold caused. Beginning in early 1997, the blog began to show the first signs of anger against society.


Soon after their release from the psychiatric center, began keeping journals of their progress. The pair also documented their arsenal with video tapes which were kept secret.

Journal entries revealed that the pair elaborated a plan for a bomb. The entries contained the ways to escape to Mexico, hijacking an aircraft at Denver International Airport and crashing into a building in New York City. It contained details about the fututre attacks. The pair hoped that after setting off bombs in the cafeteria, they would rampage through the school and shoot any survivors. Then, continue their attack on neighbors houses. This original plan failed because their main explosives did not explose. 500 people could have been killed if it succeeded.

The pair also kept videos that explained explosives, ammunition, and weapons they had acquired illegally. In these videos, the shooters also revealed how the two hide their arsenals in their own homes. The videos describe the relation between the twa and their parents. Some videos contained target practice in nearby foothills, and shots of the areas of the high school they planned to attack. A few days before the shootings, a final video had the pair apologizing to their families.



The shooting begins

harrisWhen the cafeteria bombs failed, Harris and Klebold were near Harris' car. There were heavy-armed with two sawn-off shotguns, a 9 mm semi-automatic carbine, and a 9 mm TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol, in a bag. They walked toward the cafeteria. They went to the top of the West Entrance steps which is the highest point on campus. From this point, the cafeteria's side entrance was at the bottom of the staircase, the school's main West Entrance was to their left, and the athletic fields to their right.

At 11:19 AM, Eric Harris says "Go! Go!". At that moment the gunmen pulled out their shotguns and began shooting at Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo, who were sitting to their left, eating lunch. Both were hit and critically injured. After the initial shots, one of the shooters shot Scott again, killing her. It is unclear who shot first and who killed Scott.

Meanwhile, a police sheriff arrived at the scene and began shooting at Harris and Klebold. This distracted them from the injured Brian Anderson. Anderson staggered out of the area and ran into the library. Harris fired ten shots at the officer. The officer need a emergency assistance. When his gun jammed, Harris ran inside the school with Klebold. The pair then proceeded down the main North Hallway shooting at anyone they saw and throwing pipe bombs. While doing so, they shot student Stephanie Munson in the ankle. She was able to walk out of the school and make it to a house across the street. The pair then proceeded to shoot out the windows to the East Entrance of the school. After going through the hall several more times, shooting at any students they saw whithout injuring any. They went to the Library Hallway. They kill some peapole and went out.

Sometime between 12:02 PM and 12:05 PM the shooters entered the library again, but it was empty of all living students except for the unconscious Patrick Ireland and Lisa Kreutz who played dead. We don't not known what they did between the time they left the cafeteria and the time they re-entered the library. Once inside, they attempted to shoot out the windows at policemen, without success. They then moved over to the table next to where Matthew Kechter and Isaiah Shoels lay, there, they shot themselves, committing suicide. At 2:38 PM, Patrick Ireland regained consciousness and crawled over to the windows, where he attempted to exit. He was then taken out of the school through the library windows by SWAT team members, in a famously TV scene. Lisa Kreutz remained injured in the library until police entered the scene at 3:25 PM; she was then removed, along with Ms. Nielson, Brian Anderson, and the three library staff.


¬ Aproximate Time-Line




Early 98:
After pretty vandalism, authorities told Harris's to watch their son. Harris begin keeping journal of his plans to kill at Columbine High. Haris threatens Brooks Brown. A web site details Harris's rage.

May 98
After police given print out of Web site, no action is taken. Brown's call not returned.

June 98
Harris and Klebold began building pipe bombs. Parents fail to notice activity.

July 98
Harris plays "Doom" video game on internet. One level of game is layout of Columbine High.

August 98
Harris and Klebold explode pipe bombs in "Greenbelt" section.

September 98
Harris and Klebold become seniors at Columbine High.

October 98
Harris and Klebold video class project involve anger, violence and revenge.

November 98
Klebold's girlfriend turns 18, buys 3 guns used by Klebold and Harris in murders.

December 98
At some point, Harris is taking Luvox, a psycho-tropic drug for brain chemical imbalance.

January 99
Bomb making continues. Harris refines murder plans in his journal.

February 99
Man sells TEC-DC9 assault pistol to Harris. Goes shooting 3 times.

March 99
Counselor talks with Klebold and his father about his violent essays at school.

April 99
Harris and Klebold murder 12 students, 1 teacher and injure 23 other.

¬ The search for reasons 



There was a great deal of debate about what motivated the killers and whether anything could have been done to prevent the crime. The reality of social cliques in high schools was a frequent topic of discussion. Many argued that the pair's isolation from the rest of their classmates prompted feelings of helplessness, insecurity and depression, as well as a strong desire for attention. Some schools also began programs to expose and stop school bullying, which many charged had fueled anger and resentment within Harris and Klebold.

In the weeks following the shootings, media reports about the two killers portrayed them as part of a "goth cult" known as the "Trenchcoat Mafia." They were portrayed as "nerds" who were unpopular and hated by much of the school's population. Later, such characterizations were revised as both Harris and Klebold were documented to have a close circle of friends and a wider informal social group. Nevertheless, they were not "popular" and could best be described as being members of the school's "rejects". It was also reported that anti-gay epithets were frequently directed at them, though both were known to have had girlfriends. As for the "goth cult", Harris and Klebold were peripheral members of an informal school club called the "Trenchcoat Mafia" in which they wore heavy black trench coats. By the time of the shootings, most of the major members of that group had already either graduated or dropped out of Columbine. A backlash against the "Goth" subculture resulted from both students and administrators across the country.