What got you into Columbine?

So....?

Well I've heard about for years and especially on the 10 year anniversary. Then I moved that Summer and one of the streets near my house was actually called Columbine which was really weird to see but I wasn't interested in learning about it at all. But then last Feburary on To young to kill they mentioned Columbine so I finally decided to look it up and after seeing how normal and nice Eric and Dylan looked I instantly wanted to know everything i could about them and what happened. And I've been interested in it ever since.

Researching.

When I was sitting in the library that day reading the car magazines.

trench coat wrote:

When I was sitting in the library that day reading the car magazines.

Which library and on what day?

Was kinda interested as a teen when it went down, would probably have been a total fan girl if I had been more into the Internet at that point. I mostly forgot about it until I watched Zero Day. That made me go back and look at Columbine all over again. That was about a year ago.

During my teen years for some unknown reason my mother compared me to Eric/Dylan, probably to offend me (?), I barely knew about Columbine since I quickly heard about it on the news when it happened and I was younger than ever, so I did a quick research and one of the first documents I went into were their journals, it got me very interested so I went on researching

Jenn wrote:

trench coat wrote:

When I was sitting in the library that day reading the car magazines.

Which library and on what day?

My high school in TX, April 20, 1999. They made everyone leave for some stupid reason, found out it was because they were worried about copy cats.

trench coat wrote:

Jenn wrote:

trench coat wrote:

When I was sitting in the library that day reading the car magazines.

Which library and on what day?

My high school in TX, April 20, 1999. They made everyone leave for some stupid reason, found out it was because they were worried about copy cats.

Ah OK, I was confused there for a minute. I thought you meant you were sitting in the Library at Columbine when this happened. Like maybe you went to that school, my mistake.

I heard about it sometimes and was generally interested in school shootings. But I started to research it more deep in 2008, after I watched the Zero Hour Documentary.

I was about 3 years old and far enough from America to not know that it happened. Multiple years later, I was reading a magazine... and found an article about SCMRPG.
It was surely interesting to have SCMRPG as a first source to learn the story from.

Heard about it before vaguely (when it happened) but it really piqued my interest in 2009 (the 10th year anniversary) and have been following on and off ever since.

Wikipedia! I was looking for something totally different I guess but I ended up at the massacre, later that week I searched google to see if there was some more information (and obviously there was a lot more information).

I was sitting in a classroom working on our yearbook during my senior year of high school on April 20th, 1999. The classroom tv was turned on and we watched the footage live. It was 11:38am Pacific Time, which would be 12:38pm in Colorado time. Shortly after, the fire alarm started to go off and our teacher raced into the classroom, turned off the lights, locked the door, and had us all hide under our desks. Pretty scary stuff.

Being the same age and grade as E/D really resonated with my whole class. Our prom was one week later and almost cancelled due to a threat a classmate of ours made about showing up and shooting/bombing everyone. Prom DID happen. BUT there was a student who did show up with a loaded gun (not the original classmate who had been suspended/banned).

Columbine was mentioned at our graduation a few weeks after that. Really random, but I remember Patty Duke (who was the keynote speaker at our graduation) speaking about the impact that Columbine would have on my generation.

That summer, some very close friends of mine were contacted by the FBI. Apparently, they had been in contact with E/D online previously. Probably through common-interest chat rooms or message boards I'm thinking.

That's where it all started for me.

in my school we saw the film elephant....

I read Wally Lamb's book about a year ago 'The hour I first believed', started researching and got hooked. My son was 17 last year and so I related to E/D from kind of a mom angle.

In 1999 I was at the same age like Eric & Dylan, but I was not interested in Columbine. I only thought that they were crazy freaks who killed their classmates.

In 2009 Tim Kretchmer went on a killing spree and killed 15 people before he committed suicide. After that I researched on the net and came across Columbine. After I have read their diaries and watched the videos, I was interested.

After days of thoughts I remember an odd event I did not pay attention in 1999. In school I was an outcast, because I did not like the mainstream music (I liked Punk very much), dyed my hair black and wore all over black. Looked like a Goth. I wore dark make-up, black nail polish and painted my face pale. And I had a black trenchcoat. I never connected this with Columbine. But i remember that my class teacher came to me and asked me if he could help me. He told me that he noticed I was not happy with school and life. Today, I thought he was worried about me, maybe because of Columbine. Yes, I hated school, but there was no violence in me.

I was 8 years old and in the 2nd grade when Columbine happened. It really sticks out in my mind because I remember coming home from school and every news channel was covering the story, and even though I lived nowhere near Colorado, it had a heavy impact on the community I lived in. Most of the people that lived in my community were fanatical Christians who all bought into the early stories/reports of the victims saying "yes" to believing in God, then getting shot. It seemed like when Columbine happened time just stopped; it was all anyone could talk about for months/years after it happened. And not to mention all the coverage of the "Trench Coat Mafia" group really damaged the reputations of Goths in my town, and subjected them to some very cruel harassment. It was bad.

But what got me interested in Columbine was the research paper I wrote in a Psychology class about two years ago. The topic was to find a possible connection between violent video-games and school shootings, then somehow tie that into psychology, and instantly I thought about Columbine.

Although, when I wrote the research paper, I didn't know as much about Columbine as I do now.

I was ten when it happened, so I vaguely remember seeing it on the news. Some images of that day really stand out, such as Patrick Ireland getting out through the window and the "1 bleeding to death"-sign and the pictures of the boys they showed on TV. It really made an impression somehow, because I don't remember any other news items from that time so much. I think I was still too young to understand some of what was going on, as in the actual dynamics of the case and the repercussions it had for the community/my generation. All I knew was that two really normal-looking kids walked into their school and opened fire on everyone.. and I didn't understand what had brought them to it, not back then, but I knew that this was something 'big' that would have a lasting influence.

Over the years, there have been random mentions of Columbine. I got into the case enough to know most of the basics back in my teens, but I never did any heavy research. (Probably because I was too busy keeping my own head above water at the time. I shudder to think how different my life might've been if I'd had the examples of the boys to 'lead' my already hurt and angry self.) Last year, though, the book from Tim Krabbé made its way into the standard delivery from our book supplier. I worked in a bookstore at the time, so I saw it as soon as it came in. There was this.. I dunno.. this 'click' of recognition and the urge to buy/read it almost straight away. It's not something I'd commonly pick up to buy, and I feel almost crazy for saying that I felt as though "I had to" so much that I went back to work during a time I wasn't scheduled to grab it off the shelf..  After I'd read that, I went online and grabbed any information I could find. 11k, videos, articles, anything that made a mention of the case.. and then I found the Tumblr-tag through an article written about the 'Holmies' and the result is pretty much what you see before you right now. ;) 

I was sitting in my buddies basement the day it happened, I remember looking at him and saying "$100 says that the kids doing it were fucked with nonstop." A little part of me cheered as I was messed with all through out High School for listening to Death Metal (back then metal was not "Main stream" as it is today). I was 21 when it happened so HS was still kinda fresh in my mind. After the first month I never really thought about it again much until about 3 years ago I read something about Rachel Scott (I think) and that sparked the fire.
Whats funny is how upset I get if someone gets something wrong about Columbine and I correct them... Then proceed to show them how they are wrong and prove they are wrong. (The whole she said yes thing pisses me off to no end and ppl still eat it up like it was fact).

deathmedic wrote:

Whats funny is how upset I get if someone gets something wrong about Columbine and I correct them... Then proceed to show them how they are wrong and prove they are wrong. (The whole she said yes thing pisses me off to no end and ppl still eat it up like it was fact).

You're not alone there, I do that to. I find myself going on rants to my friends (who politely nod and listen) who know nothing about it. Even my mother knows about my interest because when something pisses me off about it, be it wrong information or just the fact that it happened I let it out to her. And she actually doesn't find me crazy which is the best part.

deathmedic wrote:

And she actually doesn't find me crazy which is the best part.

That´s great. Everybody I told about my interesting thought it was strange to be interesting. My friend said it happend 14 years ago and it is far away. And it is finish now. But not for me.

em81 wrote:

deathmedic wrote:

And she actually doesn't find me crazy which is the best part.

That´s great. Everybody I told about my interesting thought it was strange to be interesting. My friend said it happend 14 years ago and it is far away. And it is finish now. But not for me.

I've been interested in this kind of stuff since I was a kid so she's not that surprised. I've been blessed with an amazing parent who buys me serial killer psychology box sets for Christmas. She doesn't understand but she gives me my space to have my abnormal interests.

deathmedic wrote:

(The whole she said yes thing pisses me off to no end and ppl still eat it up like it was fact).

It's truly sad how even 14 years later, nearly everyone still believes this. It seems like Christians, in particular, will never be able to let this go no matter how many times it has been disproved.

em81 wrote:

My friend said it happend 14 years ago and it is far away. And it is finish now.

I had a friend tell me this as well. This person told me that "Columbine happened along time ago," and it should "stay in the past." I thought everything this person told me sounded ridiculous.
Historical events are meant to be researched and studied so that we can learn from them, otherwise, we wouldn't have Historians, History books, and History classes!

VictorianDoll wrote:

It's truly sad how even 14 years later, nearly everyone still believes this. It seems like Christians, in particular, will never be able to let this go no matter how many times it has been disproved.

Funny you say that that was the first thing my pastor said when I said something about Columbine was the whole "They killed a girl because she said she believed in god"... To which I corrected him (in a lot nicer way than I normally would).

I was always interested in crime. I started researching school shootings after Erfurt because I lived in Germany at that time so it got a lot of attention & people were comparing it to Columbine.

I read about another school shooting. Then it linked me to Columbine and the shooting.

I read the stories about the two who massacred the school. They seemed so much like me, especially Dylan, that I had to keep reading!

What got me into Columbine was vividly remembering watching the news coverage that morning as I was getting ready for school. I was very close to the same age as Dylan and it shocked me deeply that someone my age could do something so horrific. I was into the alternative scene and it worried my family more than ever following the massacre. They actually sat me down and asked me if I knew anything about a Trench Coat Mafia at my school, which there of course I did not because there wasn't one.

I came back to it all years later following hearing something online about the Basement Tapes and wanting to know if they were available to the public yet. Then I got into the research, the 11k and the books and since then it's been a keen interest that just hasn't faded.

I was in Florida when I happened to watch Zero Day on Netflix. So when I was on the plane flying home I decided to read Dave Cullen's book and then wanted more answers. I read Jeff Kass's book and then No Easy Answers, then Comprehending Columbine by Ralph Larkin. Then I watched "Elephant" and whatever I could find online. Don't know why I became obsessed!

I guess my favourite was Jeff Kass's book although it kind of rambled at the end.

Anyone have other recommendations?

Cheerycherry were you on SBB?

Hi CatherineM813, I may have been for a while, I truly cannot remember. If I did, I don't think I posted a great deal.

Okay the reason why I was asking because there was another person who's username was Cherry and I thought it might be the same person.

CatherineM813 wrote:

Okay the reason why I was asking because there was another person who's username was Cherry and I thought it might be the same person.

The Cherry on SBB was one of Desti's friends and in her little circle. I doubt she would ever join a forum run by Ivan and I, nor would any of the members in Desti's circle of friends. Also, I think I remember her saying she was American(the Cherry on SBB) and I believe the Cherry here is British.

I am English, yes. Inbox me if you need to know anything else. Sorry if my username has caused any confusion, it's one I use on a lot of boards.

cherrycherry wrote:

I am English, yes. Inbox me if you need to know anything else. Sorry if my username has caused any confusion, it's one I use on a lot of boards.

It's OK. Don't worry about it. Some members just thought you may be the same Cherry that was on SBB. Your username is fine. 

I read somewhere that Dylan had potato wedges for his last meal. I wanted to find out if it was K.F.C. potato wedges he ate. I found out it wasn't, but still got an interest in Columbine anyway. Then I got even more excited when someone told me there was a video of Dylan going through the drive-thru at a fast food joint. I was hoping it was K.F.C., but once again was disappointed to see it was Burger King.

Zero Hour got me back into it when I saw it many years ago.

I was just 13 when I first learned about Columbine in that Flyleaf song ''Cassie'', but it did not interest me at all. Now, I believe I got into Columbine out of curiosity, love for researching on crime cases etc.

I was reading the wikipedia's massive section regarding rampage killer's. I came across the ' bath school disaster'. I think that and Columbine are the only school attacks that involved using explosives. May 18th 1927 in Bath Township Michigan. Andrew Kehoe killed 38 elementary school kids and 6 adults and injured 58 others. Firstly he killed his wife, blew up the school with dynamite and then killed himself.

K.F.C. wrote:

I read somewhere that Dylan had potato wedges for his last meal. I wanted to find out if it was K.F.C. potato wedges he ate. I found out it wasn't, but still got an interest in Columbine anyway. Then I got even more excited when someone told me there was a video of Dylan going through the drive-thru at a fast food joint. I was hoping it was K.F.C., but once again was disappointed to see it was Burger King.

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Damn, I don´t like Burger King

em81 wrote:

K.F.C. wrote:

I read somewhere that Dylan had potato wedges for his last meal. I wanted to find out if it was K.F.C. potato wedges he ate. I found out it wasn't, but still got an interest in Columbine anyway. Then I got even more excited when someone told me there was a video of Dylan going through the drive-thru at a fast food joint. I was hoping it was K.F.C., but once again was disappointed to see it was Burger King.

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Damn, I don´t like Burger King

Here is something you will appreciate KFC. I was on the Columbine Tag and saw that the Klebolds stated Dylan had an enormous appetite. He could eat an entire bucket of KFC by himself.

First post!

Well, after the GSP mall suicide incident I looked up past shootings and got really hooked on Columbine Have been for the past month.

Marco1211 wrote:

First post!

Well, after the GSP mall suicide incident I looked up past shootings and got really hooked on Columbine Have been for the past month.

A newcomer! Get ready for this shit to take over your life for a while, haha.

fatlittleparasite wrote:

Marco1211 wrote:

First post!

Well, after the GSP mall suicide incident I looked up past shootings and got really hooked on Columbine Have been for the past month.

A newcomer! Get ready for this shit to take over your life for a while, haha.

I'm already noticing haha.