Two teenagers committed the worst crime in school in the history of America. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 students and one teacher. 23 people were injured. After a terrible massacre, teenagers shot themselves, leaving behind only horror and misunderstanding. Where did they get their weapons, and why did the police act so weird and ridiculous?
Natural born killers
That was the name of the film, which inspired two teenagers to act of terrorism in the walls of Columbine High School. Dylan Klebold, named after the Welsh poet, was an ordinary guy from the suburbs. He had certain academic successes, as he was part of a group of highly gifted and capable students. Not very sociable, he did not have close friends until he met Eric in a Spanish lesson. Together they went to high school, but their friendship did not bring popularity to the guys.
They were openly disliked by other students in the circle of the so-called elite. The guys could not answer the insults, so they took out the anger on the children from elementary grades. Both were fond of the DOOM computer game, and Eric even created new levels and posted them on his website. Later, other interesting things appeared there: the young man published angry messages and threats. If at that moment the police became interested in the affairs of friends, then the tragedy would have been avoided. After all, by that time they already had other messages on the network. In particular, they described the process of creating a bomb that would soon explode at Columbine.
Diaries, Hitler and the Cinema
Drug addicts and hired killers - guys chose this image for themselves when creating a film for a school project. Black cloaks, fake weapons and a ton of violence were the main idea. Now we can say that it was like a rehearsal for the upcoming attack. In addition, there are a large number of videos, some of which are shared. Some have not yet been published: Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris discuss the attack on them.
It is known that the guys were delighted with the killers, who before them staged fire at their schools. But the guys decided to surpass everyone. In their diaries, they wrote that they hate this world, are eager to take revenge, to leave a mark on history. Initially, they planned to arrange shooting on April 19, 1999, but then they carried out the attack a day later. From other students it became known that both were fans of Nazism. Probably, the date was postponed just because April 20 was Hitler's birthday. Other sources report that the delay was due to the fact that they decided to buy more cartridges.
The weapon of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris
Since both teenagers were minors at the time of the tragedy, they could not acquire shotguns and cartridges on their own. A friend of Dylan came to the rescue, who was already 18 years old. Robin Anderson was not his girlfriend, although three days before the attack, they as a couple came to a school ball. She was not charged later, and she actively collaborated with the investigation.
In total, in the arsenal of adolescents there were two Stivens 311D shotguns, an intratec TEC-DC9 pistol, homemade bombs and grenades. The latter were installed in the cafeteria of the school, but did not work correctly. If the guys’s calculation were correct, then part of the building would collapse after the explosion, and the death toll was many times greater. Both shotguns were trimmed for greater slaughter (which in itself is already a criminal offense).
Act of terrorism
At 11:08, both teenagers entered the school grounds. Long black cloaks hid from prying eyes a weapon that they skillfully camouflaged with clothing. They hoped to plant bombs and wait until explosions occurred. And then finish off all those who survived. At that time, 480 students were in the cafeteria. At 11:15 an explosion did not follow. Two minutes later, they begin to shoot everyone who decided to go outside. Having dealt with everyone who was outside, the killers entered the building. By that time, calls had already been received at the police station, and soon patrol cars began to draw in to the school.
Dylan and Eric went to class and scattered homemade grenades. Despite the fact that the children tried to hide, they managed to shoot several, and then commit suicide. All this time, the police did not even try to enter the school, as they believe that inside a whole detachment of trained killers is operating. It will be stated later that law enforcement officers saved a large number of children, but this is not true. The disciples saved themselves by all means available to them.
Dylan Klebold's parents
Susan Klebold learned about what happened from her husband. But he did not tell her that the shooting had been arranged by their son. It was known that both guys had long black raincoats. Thomas Klebold knew that his son had such clothes, so he searched the whole house in search of it. By evening, the police confirmed the worst fears: the killers were Dylan and Eric. Susan later said that the moment she found out about the shooting, there was only one thought in her head: “If this is Dylan, then let him kill himself before anyone else.”
The families of the dead students did not make the guys guilty of the parents. But they brought claims. Harris and Klebold had to pay $ 1,568,000. Susan was never able to understand and explain the act of her son. She wrote an open letter in which she stated that he acted unforgivably, and the whole family is still looking for reasons that pushed him to such atrocities.