Columbine Revisited

It has been nearly nine years since Columbine, which was, at the time, the deadliest school shooting, but it is still widely talked about today. It was truly one of the most shocking events in history and will never be forgotten. On April 20, 1999, two seniors students launched an all-out assault on Columbine high school. The results were devastating and the incident had a drastic affect on American society. Consequently, everyone who has ever heard of the event is left with the question, "Why?"

The Event

Two Columbine students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, had been planning an assault on their high school for over a year before the plan was actually launched. Therefore, many preparations were made. Although everything did not go how they planned, here is how the event unraveled. Before arriving at the school on the designated day, April 20th, the pair planted a bomb in a field a mile away from school set to go off at 11:14 a.m. in order to thwart police (it eventually started a small fire). They then arrived at Columbine high school at 11:10 a.m. and met in the parking lot where they finalized their plan, which was to be highlighted by two propane bombs that would do catastrophic damage. They planted these bombs in the cafeteria and met back at their cars which were positioned in two separate spots where an excellent view of the cafeteria could be seen. After the bombs were to go off at 11:17 a.m., they would shoot down fleeing survivors exiting the cafeteria. Fortunately, the bombs never went off due to poor assembling. If they would have detonated, the bombs had enough explosive power to destroy the cafeteria and send the library above crashing down. The two students admired the Oklahoma bombing and wanted to not only imitate it, but outdo it. At 11:19 a.m, realizing that their bombs were not going to detonate, Harris and Klebold made their way to the highest stairs outside the building, and started shooting students who were at lunch. Armed with shotguns, a rifle, and a semi-automatic handgun, Harris and Klebold began the massacre.