I feel so bad for Brooks...

While I was halfway through No Easy Answers, I remember having to take a break from it for awhile, because I couldn't even imagine having to live the rest of your life knowing that two of your good friends killed people. And all these unanswered questions still being brought up.

Also, I remember seeing this old news footage on YouTube, where they interviewed him shortly after the shooting happened in his home, and you could tell that he was still in shock, especially when he quoted Eric's last words to him at the end.

me too, i know he don´t want to talk about Columbine anymore, but he will never forget it. That´s why I am sorry, little things can just remember him of this horrible day.

I'm sure Brooks' whole life has been totally screwed up by this event. Not only did two of his good friends kill a number of their classmates, he finds that he was really only a bullet away from death because Eric could have shot him in a heartbeat. And then he is named a suspect and persecuted by his community for at least a year. And he can never get away from it, there will always be people wanting to know about it.

Why did Brooks not attend Dylan's funeral.

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

Why did Brooks not attend Dylan's funeral.

Because he was at Rachel Scott's, I believe.

Jenn wrote:

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

Why did Brooks not attend Dylan's funeral.

Because he was at Rachel Scott's, I believe.

I know but Dylan was his 'best friend'. Brooks never gave a reason as to why he didn't attend Dylan's. If we could only ask him one last question, this would be it for me.

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

I know but Dylan was his 'best friend'.

That status had likely by then been very altered by the realization that the guy was in fact a crazy fucked-up murderer.

lio45 wrote:

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

I know but Dylan was his 'best friend'.

That status had likely by then been very altered by the realization that the guy was in fact a crazy fucked-up murderer.

That is a good point. However he still refers to Dylan as his best friend in his book and his AMA on Reddit. I think he even states himself in his book that in the immediate aftermath he was really pissed off that Rachel (a good friends' ex girlfriend) and Daniel Mauser (the boy he was tutoring in debate) were killed, but then he mellowed out and 'understood' that Eric and Dylan were angry at the school, and he 'understood' why they did it. I think in the days after the shooting, people kept their distance from the Harris and the Klebold families. IIRC, none of Dylan's friends attended his funeral, only close family and Brooks' parents. So I guess not just Brooks stayed away from his funeral. Brooks probably felt he needed to provide support at Rachel's funeral for Stephen Partridge and Nick Baumgart, two of his other close friends who found themselves close to Rachel Scott.

After the shooting he'd chosen the way his life went. No one forced him to wrote a book or to gave intervievs. He and his parents appeared in documentaries they were talking about Columbine, the case, the cops, perpetrators and so on. He wouldn't have to do all these things and lived a private life as Chris Morris who was arrested after the shootng was a good mate of Eric and Dylan and had a tough time, too. I'm not attack him here I think he's done a very good job and gave us answers to some interesting questions all I try to do is look at him from the different sides. Frankly speaking I still wonder if he really had spoken with Harris on the day of the shooting.

you think he lied about this? Why should he do this? only to be a seeking attention whore?

MysteryMan wrote:

After the shooting he'd chosen the way his life went. No one forced him to wrote a book or to gave intervievs. He and his parents appeared in documentaries they were talking about Columbine, the case, the cops, perpetrators and so on. He wouldn't have to do all these things and lived a private life as Chris Morris who was arrested after the shootng was a good mate of Eric and Dylan and had a tough time, too. I'm not attack him here I think he's done a very good job and gave us answers to some interesting questions all I try to do is look at him from the different sides. Frankly speaking I still wonder if he really had spoken with Harris on the day of the shooting.

Interesting thought. We know that Brooks had an issue with lying/exaggerating at that time in his life. And once you told this lie, I can't imagine how you'd get out of it. I've never considered the possibility.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Why not, most of people crave for fame Eric and Dylan, too. Look at this Brenda Parker who claimed that she'd slept with Harris and after that, it turned out that she had lied.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I'm not saying that Brooks is a liar I've not got proofs to back up my theory but I've got some doubts. According to him, his conversation with Harris took place on a crowded lot near the school around 11 a.m. I haven't read all statements yet but as I know no one heard or saw them together at least. He could've exchanded a few meaningless words with Eric but I doubt that Harris warned him that some shit gonna happend. As we know both of boys E. and D. didn't give a fuck about anyone. Eric didn't warn his better mates Dykeman and Morris why would he have done this if he'd had a tough time with Brooks and his parents in the past? I know that Brown claimed that they were a friends again at that time but I not sure that Eric could have forgiven anything to anyone. That is only my kind of controversial opinion

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I think you definitely have a point. I don't know one way or the other. If Eric did in fact warn Brooks off, I imagine it was a power trip in itself. He had the power of life or death over Brooks and chose to let him live. And while I doubt Eric was capable of imagining the kind of psychological torture that must have inflicted on Brooks, he certainly had achieved it.

If, on the other hand, Brooks didn't actually talk to him or simply had a quick exchange with no warning, then I guess he was seeking attention and then found there was no way to repeal his story without making himself look even more suspicious.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I agree with you. I've read Brooks Brown's book and I always found it odd that Brown made up with Eric so easily. From Eric's writings it doesn't seem like he's the kind of guy that would forgive and forget. They were pissed at each other for over a year and then a few months prior to the shooting they make up and its all better? That just seems strange. I dunno if I believe Eric warned him away or just said something to the effect of something bad was about to happen

I think he probably did see him and have a few words but I have always doubted the "Brooks, I like you now. Get outta here" quote.

While I do feel bad for Brooks, you gotta know that Chris Morris probably has it the worst. He will always be considered the third shooter by many people. Many people will always suspect that he played a part. The poor kid was kicked out of his house by his mom a year later. And they expelled him from school, and no one wanted to go near him because he was a murderer's best friend

Radioactive_Clothing wrote:

I think he probably did see him and have a few words but I have always doubted the "Brooks, I like you now. Get outta here" quote.

Same. Something feels really wrong with Brooks' version of events. I don't understand why he decided to walk off after Eric told him to go home. I think it's more likely that Brooks caught a glimpse of Eric's guns or pipe bombs, and decided to leave the school. He probably felt that he would be blamed for not warning others if he told police and news crews the truth.

browneyes11 wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I agree with you. I've read Brooks Brown's book and I always found it odd that Brown made up with Eric so easily. From Eric's writings it doesn't seem like he's the kind of guy that would forgive and forget. They were pissed at each other for over a year and then a few months prior to the shooting they make up and its all better? That just seems strange. I dunno if I believe Eric warned him away or just said something to the effect of something bad was about to happen

*** 2 years

It's odd that Brooks lied about that too in his own book saying the windshield incident happened in their junior year '98, when it was clearly in their 10th grade year Feb '97. Eric wouldn't have been at the bus stop if this was '98 because he had his license in May '97, and got his car shortly after. He hated riding the bus. So they were pissed for 2 years at each other, and even a year later Harris was still threatening Brooks.

But look at it this way. Maybe Eric knew he shouldn't get into any more trouble as NBK is coming, and Brooks and his parents were a thorn on his side, and can easily report him to the police, and then their plans would've been ruined (possibly Eric thought this). Many people said Eric calmed down in his senior year, and wasn't as angry as he was in his previous years.

If Brooks lied about the incident with the windshield maybe he actually did lie about Eric warning him to get out of there, but I'm not sure. I trust Brooks, and he has admitted his wrong doing in his books when he lied about having a 95 mph fastball, and other stuff lol

Krabbe in his book doubts if Brown ever talked to Harris that day and if he did, did he conversation go as he reported it to be.

I'm less skeptical than Krabbe, though nto 100% sure.

I imagine if Brooks came up to Eric shortly before the planned explosion time (or when Eric was unpacking his arsenal from his car), Eric would probably say something to the extent of: "yeah, yeha yeah, now go away" just to get rid of Brooks, so he wouldn't spoil anything at the last moment.

The reported: "Brooks, you are ok, why don't you go home now, the philosophy test doesn't matter" conversation fits well the pattern I described above - Eric trying to get rid of Books quickly so he could go on with NBK as planned. To me this version sounds at least somewhat plausible.

On the other hand, I disagree with Brook's opinion that Eric deliberately warned him because he didn't want to kill him. Eric wanted to get Brooks out of the way simply because Brooks was in the wrong place at the wrong time and could spoil the start of NBK. I'm sure if Brooks was on the grass with Castaldo and Rachel, he would simply have been shot like them.

Brooks survived to write his book and is still with us just because he was lucky, not becasue Eric deliberately spared him.

That's my impression.