In modern US history , the Columbine massacre has a special place. The massacre staged by two teenagers shocked the whole country. This event led to a public debate over violent video games and permission to buy firearms.
Harris and Klebold
Columbine School in Colorado was no different from thousands of similar educational institutions across the country. Here in the last class friends Eric and Dylan studied. They were characterized by a heavy character and strange habits. A few years before the massacre at Columbine School, schoolchildren ended up in police custody because of hooliganism and computer theft.
Young people clashed with their peers. Eric Harris went to see a psychiatrist because he was diagnosed with depression. He took medications that could have a negative effect on his behavior. Friends kept a blog on the Internet, where they posted amateur videos related to the production of explosives and weapons.
Shooter plan
On April 20, 1999, Eric and Dylan planned an explosion at their own school. To do this, they secretly engaged in the production of various bombs for several months. According to their plan, they were supposed to lay explosives in the school cafeteria and go out into the street. After the detonator worked, the shooters had to open fire on the students and staff who had run out in a panic. In total, friends were going to kill up to five hundred people.
If the bombs were made by Eric and Dylan in a cunning way, then in order to get weapons, they had to go to the trick. None of the shooters had yet reached adulthood, so they asked to buy the trunks of a friend who went to Denver for this. The girl did not suspect the plans of Hariss and Klebold.
Attack start
On April 20, 1999, friends came to their school. They went to the cafeteria, where they quietly planted bombs with detonators, and then hastily set off for the street. However, the explosion did not happen at the appointed time. At first, Harris and Klebold decided to wait a few more minutes for reinsurance. However, when nothing happened after that, they switched to Plan B.
It consisted in the fact that the shooters took weapons from their car and went to classes to arrange a massacre. So began the massacre at Columbine School. When Harris took a gym bag with him, he was met by a school friend who asked why he had missed classes. Instead of a clear answer, Eric told a friend: “I like you. Go away. Go home. ” Within a minute, this guy heard the first shots.
First killed
The first victims of the shooters was a couple who was sitting on the lawn in front of the school. The girl died from bullet wounds immediately, and her friend later became disabled. After that, the arrows opened indiscriminate fire on the guys who were in sight. So three friends were seriously injured, who decided that high school students were just playing them.
Subsequently, the massacre at Columbine School moved inside her. Arrows entered the building from the emergency entrance. Once in the west wing, they began to shoot those who were in the corridor. The following goals were the students sitting in classrooms nearby. One of the teachers went to the library, from where they called the 911 service. Soon the police found out about the incident. An outfit went to school.
When the police arrived, Klybold and Hariss were already inside the building. The officers managed to notice the shooters through the window, after which a shootout ensued. However, not a single person was injured or injured.
Library Slaughter
At this time, friends were heading to the library. Here they killed the most people. Their victims were 10 students. They all hid under the tables when Dylan Klebold and his comrade entered the room. However, this did not save them. Here, shooting at the US Columbine School was carried out to defeat. The killers came close to their victims and shot them in cold blood. Teenagers scoffed at their peers who were wounded and numb with horror, asking them tricky questions about the desire to die and faith in God. The shooters clearly enjoyed what was happening. According to the recollections of surviving eyewitnesses, Klebold and Harris constantly laughed and joked with each other.
In addition, the comrades took carbon bombs with them, which they decided to use directly in the library. One of them was thrown under the table where a school student was hiding. For some victims, a dozen shots were fired. When friends left the library twenty minutes later, 12 people had already been killed at school. Another teacher was bleeding and died after a while. Thus, Klebold and Harris killed 13 people. The list of the dead appeared in the media a few hours after the tragedy.
Friends return to the dining room
The arrows went down to the dining room, where the broken bombs were still stored. Eyewitnesses recalled that while still in the library, one of his friends said that they would blow up the school anyway. Apparently, they went to the dining room to finally activate the explosives stored there. CCTV cameras worked in the room, which recorded the guys in the last minutes of their lives. Comrades puzzled over how to detonate bombs. They had a Molotov cocktail with them , which was produced in the garage during preparation for the attack on the school.
Harris threw the bottle at the place where the bombs were stored. Friends hurriedly left the room, expecting an explosion. It happened, but its power was not at all as deadly as the schoolchildren hoped. The surveillance camera recorded the moment when a fire started in the dining room, which arose after the outbreak of a fireball from a bomb.
Harris and Klebold suicide
Meanwhile, the evacuation of students who had been injured before the shooters were in the building was organized on the street. The police developed an action plan. Special forces arrived at the scene. The situation was aggravated by the fact that no one knew the exact number of attackers on the school. Initially, the police believed that they were dealing with an organized terrorist attack, in which a dozen people took part.
When the friends left the cafeteria, they again headed to the upper floor. From there, the last shootout began with the policemen on the street. Friends fired until almost no cartridges were left. Then the shooting at the US Columbine School ended, Hariss and Klebold went to the next room, where they committed suicide.
Work of sappers and special forces
After the noise in the school calmed down, the police still decided to storm. Special forces and sappers were sent there. The latter took up the library, where there were several unexploded bombs. They needed to be neutralized in the first place, since they prevented the evacuation of the wounded and the removal of corpses. Soon, sappers were informed that explosives were also stored in a teen car. They also got rid of them, and no one else was hurt. It turned out that the shooters did not take with them all their ammunition. Explosives and cartridges were found in the car.
However, when the SWAT was in the building, it became clear that the arrows were already over. Their bodies were found nearby in a burning room on the top floor. Apparently, Eric Harris left Molotov cocktail, which crashed and provoked a fire. This was evidenced by a smoke detector signal that triggered a minute after the death of adolescents. Suicides shot at the mouth and temple. Death for them came instantly.
The meaning of tragedy
Along with the names of the shooters, the list of victims includes 15 people. In memory of the victims, a memorial complex was built in the city. At that time, when the shooting at the Columbine school just happened, it was the third most recent similar incident in US history. We are talking about massacres in educational institutions. However, this particular case in Colorado has become world famous.
The reason for this was the work of the then media. Soon, dozens of reporters from various television channels and newspapers appeared near the school. The tragedy aroused a response in the international community. It was the journalists who drew the attention of every American to what had happened in a regular provincial school. Society demanded the results of an investigation by the responsible authorities.
Since that April day, people around the world have known that there is a Columbine school. The year 1999 remained in the mass consciousness connected with this tragedy. The word Columbine has become winged. Unfortunately, similar cases of shooting in US educational institutions, including schools and universities, continue to be repeated.
In 2007, a similar tragedy occurred at the Virgin Polytechnic Institute, when 33 people died. A few years later, gunfire rang out at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It killed 28 people.
Investigation of the incident
When the names of the shooters became known to the police, investigators immediately went to their homes. They feared that important evidence would be destroyed. That did not happen. The investigation continued until January 2000, when details of the incident were reported to the public.
Until that moment, various conspiracy theological versions of what had happened were popular in the USA. For example, adolescents were considered religious fanatics who staged a massacre at Columbine School. 1999 was generally full of scandals associated with various totalitarian sects.
Public scandal
After the details of the life of two shooters from Colorado were found out, several media scandals occurred. Investigators found Harris's diaries, where he described in detail his impressions of the computer game Doom. In this shooter you need to shoot at numerous monsters. Many Americans have accused the game of promoting violence.
In addition, the public criticized several groups that teenagers listened to. The musicians of Rammstein from Germany were especially harassed. They were known for their provocative surroundings on stage. In addition, their lyrics often touched on violence, hatred and intolerance. The members of the group rejected all the charges and condemned the shooters. A similar campaign was conducted against Marilyn Manson. This American performer noted that he had prepared a special publication in the press, in which he talked about the causes of the tragedy. In addition, the musician wrote two songs dedicated to what happened at Columbine School.
The discussion about the sale of firearms became acute. Following the tragedy, several states have introduced laws prohibiting or restricting such trade. American law has a number of features. General federal rules do not apply in such matters. Each state entity decides in its own way to allow or prohibit the sale of weapons. The same rules apply to the regulation of the death penalty, etc.