what it was like living in the Littleton communtiy

Hi all,
I am not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I just wanted to put in my two cents about the Columbine massacre. I was 10 years old when Columbine happened and my school was only about ten minutes away. I've lived in this area my whole life.  I remember the day pretty well actually. Our school went on lock down, but we were not told why. I think the teachers didn't want to scare us because we were young and all. It wasn't until after school that I learned about it from my older sister. I remember that it was the first time I thought that going to school could be scary or that you could go to school and not ever come home. I remember experiencing some real fear about that. Also, not too long after that, I wish I could remember the date, but the community had a memorial type of event at the Bowles Theater and my dad, my sister, and myself all went. They passed out memorial programs with pictures of the victims and I remember it all just feeling really surreal. There were so many people and I remember that it was raining that day and I remember there were a lot of umbrellas for some reason. They had singers and speakers standing on the top area of the Bowles Theater where the ticket booth area is and I couldn't even see them because there were so many people, but I remember there was singers singing spiritual type songs and I think the "Friend of Mine" song was played too. Even then, so soon after the massacre, people were talking about the God aspect in terms of the shooters having targeted Christians. I remember that I was told or heard during the memorial that the shooters had come into the library and asked everyone who believe in God to stand up and that Cassie had done so.  They also mentioned the jocks were targeted too, but I remember the religion part especially because I went to a christian school at the time. My mom went to the memorial with the crosses, which I didn't find out about until I started looking into the massacre about a year ago. I asked her what that was like and if she remembered anything written on the crosses, but she didn't. I was kind of sad that I didn't get to see that too, but it just didn't happen for some reason. I only really started looking into the whole thing about a year ago when I heard a local radio station talking about it on the anniversary. There are still so many rumors out there about Columbine and the radio host--Peter Boyles-- was talking to a guy who claims that Eric was raped and the Eric in Columbine video proves it when that guy says "Eric just got jacked in the ass" or whatever. It sparked my interest and I researched it. Even though I have lived in this community my whole life, I never really knew the truth about Columbine, and it has been really enlightening to read this forum as well as the old one on people's thoughts and theories. I also visited the school and the memorial recently, and it all became much more real to me then it was when I was little and experiencing the aftermath. Sometimes, I wonder if I ever passed by Eric and Dylan in the Southwest Plaza mall or at another store or restaurant in the area at some point. I doubt it, but it is an interesting thought to me nonetheless.

Sorry this is long, but I lastly wanted to say that I think Eric and Dylan's hatred of Littleton is one that I don't think is exactly warranted. Yes, Colorado is not so great and I often have wished I could live somewhere else, but based on my experience, it is no worse here than it might be in other places. Maybe things have changed sing the late 90's, but I have not noticed a lot of intolerance or a lot of pressure to conform, and I tend to try and be aware of that sort of thing. I don't think Denver, Littleton, or Colorado at large is a snotty/horrible place like Eric seemed to see it, and, again, this comes from a person who is not "Yay Colorado!" I think Eric would have developed mental illness and this intense anger regardless of where his family moved to. I am uncertain if he would have ended up killing people in another place, but that is mainly because of the relationship with Dylan which I think is the key to everything unfolding like it did. Anyway, thanks for listening and sorry if this is the wrong place to post this.

I found this very interesting. Thanks for posting. Personally, I would like to hear more about your experience of the event at the time it happened, when you first realized something was wrong and how you felt about it in the days afterwards, if you've got the time. How long was your school on lockdown and what did you personally think the reason was at the time?

btvs899705 wrote:

Anyway, thanks for listening and sorry if this is the wrong place to post this.

Nope. Not the wrong place at all. In fact, you're DEFINITELY in the right place here if you've got something to say about Columbine. People just love to talk about Columbine here.

This was an excellent post and I feel this was the right place to post it.

Thanks for the replies.

It was very strange how it all happened with the lockdown. The school I went to was Christian Fellowship School and had only about 200 students in it from grades K through 12. It closed down a few years ago. Anyway,  my teacher told us that she was going to lock the doors and turn off the lights, but she did not give a reason for it. This was the only time in my life that I can remember being on lockdown, so it is pretty memorable, but I wasn't scared or aware of any problem because the teacher was very careful not to say anything. My sister who was in 7th grade was told much more however. She actually got to watch some of the footage on the news in her classroom. The lockdown didn't seem to last too long, maybe an hour or two, but we just kind of went on with our day and it was only after school when I met up with my sister did I find out about the shooting. I remember feeling pretty scared for a month or two afterwards and thinking that shooters were going to come to the school.  I think this was especially because of how much the focus was on Christians being targeted. I remember that in my head I thought about and imagined what I would do if a shooter asked me if I believed in God. I think Columbine made me lose my innocence in terms of thinking that school was a safe place. I never thought that again after Columbine.  My impression of the massacre when it first happened was that the majority of it occurred in the library and that only jocks and Christians who stood up were killed. Cassie definitely became a martyr to many at my school.  This stuff was kind of what people were saying a lot at the time in my community. There was no real focus on bullying as a motive, but I do recall that after the shooting, kids were not allowed to wear baseball caps in school anymore. I don't know why that was, but it was suddenly this rule at all the schools. Maybe it is because of the "white hat" issue. I think rules were put in place about trench coats or certain jackets too.    At the time, I don't recall anyone talking about Eric and Dylan. The focus was all on the victims, which it should have been, I think, but I really knew nothing about the shooters until I started looking into it a year ago. Sometimes, it feels like Columbine is Colorado's dirty little secret. It is not something that is mentioned much besides on the anniversary, and I get the feeling sometimes that people would rather not talk about it and kind of pretend it never happened. Maybe that is normal with these sort of things, but if it weren't for the Internet, I would probably still think that the shooting was all about Christians and jocks and that Cassie said yes and that Marilyn Manson was a big influence. I would assume that many people remain fairly in the dark or misinformed about this event as I was for a long time even though I live here.


Also, just want to add that at the time the massacre hit the community so hard. People were really broken up about it and the memorial service at the Bowles theater really showed that because so many people came out for that. People came together for a little while at least. There was so much sadness at the time, I remember. The vibe was much different with Columbine then it was with the Aurora theater shooting.

btvs899705,

Thank you for your detailed reply to my previous questions. Your posts have been very interesting. Also, interesting that you felt the vibe was much different between Columbine and Aurora. Welcome to the board.

Thanks for posting! Always interesting to have a new perspective.

btvs899705 wrote:

Sorry this is long, but I lastly wanted to say that I think Eric and Dylan's hatred of Littleton is one that I don't think is exactly warranted. Yes, Colorado is not so great and I often have wished I could live somewhere else, but based on my experience, it is no worse here than it might be in other places. Maybe things have changed sing the late 90's, but I have not noticed a lot of intolerance or a lot of pressure to conform, and I tend to try and be aware of that sort of thing. I don't think Denver, Littleton, or Colorado at large is a snotty/horrible place like Eric seemed to see it, and, again, this comes from a person who is not "Yay Colorado!" I think Eric would have developed mental illness and this intense anger regardless of where his family moved to. I am uncertain if he would have ended up killing people in another place, but that is mainly because of the relationship with Dylan which I think is the key to everything unfolding like it did. Anyway, thanks for listening and sorry if this is the wrong place to post this.

You said you don't see a lot of intolerance or pressure to conform, but would you say that the community is predominately religious? Like moreso than the average community? Or was it just the aftermath of the event that brought out that side of it? I ask because there was quite a religious storm out of the area after the massacre, which I'm sure had something to do with the Cassie situation and rumors that they only killed jocks and Christians. But I'm not sure if that was purely a reaction to the situation or truly how the community was/is.

Again, thanks for posting!

Wideawake:
When it comes to Littleton, I really don't see it as a very religious place in particular. I think because I went to a really small christian school at the time, the aspect of religion in the massacre was a very big deal. I think the general community was talking about it, but I definitely came into contact with people who were talking more about it because of the school I went to and church and everything. Once I went to public school and kind of got out of the uber religious community, there just didn't seem to be that great of a focus on religion at large.  My high school and many others seemed to be pretty secular, but maybe Columbine high school was different. I think I saw that they had a really big Christian club or something at the time of the massacre, which is definitely unique, I think.  I just know that my view of the massacre was really focused on religion because of my environment. In high school and now as an adult, I just don't really see a stifling or conformist environment in Littleton, but maybe the late 90's were different and maybe Columbine High School was different.

Thanks for the welcome:)

Great post. I was 10 and living in Littleton at the time as well...my experience was pretty similar to yours.

Achimenes,
Thank you:) I am glad to know I am not too off base with my observations.

btvs899705 wrote:

Wideawake:
When it comes to Littleton, I really don't see it as a very religious place in particular. I think because I went to a really small christian school at the time, the aspect of religion in the massacre was a very big deal. I think the general community was talking about it, but I definitely came into contact with people who were talking more about it because of the school I went to and church and everything. Once I went to public school and kind of got out of the uber religious community, there just didn't seem to be that great of a focus on religion at large.  My high school and many others seemed to be pretty secular, but maybe Columbine high school was different. I think I saw that they had a really big Christian club or something at the time of the massacre, which is definitely unique, I think.  I just know that my view of the massacre was really focused on religion because of my environment. In high school and now as an adult, I just don't really see a stifling or conformist environment in Littleton, but maybe the late 90's were different and maybe Columbine High School was different.

Thanks for the welcome:)

You don't see it as a very religious place? Have you looked around lately? There are churches everywhere and not to mention the HUGE one on Bowles. Anyway, I find a whole lot of Colorado people to be very religious, stuck up, richy, better than you kind of type. Maybe people who fall under those categories don't see it for themselves? I don't know.

Übermensch wrote:

btvs899705 wrote:

Wideawake:
When it comes to Littleton, I really don't see it as a very religious place in particular. I think because I went to a really small christian school at the time, the aspect of religion in the massacre was a very big deal. I think the general community was talking about it, but I definitely came into contact with people who were talking more about it because of the school I went to and church and everything. Once I went to public school and kind of got out of the uber religious community, there just didn't seem to be that great of a focus on religion at large.  My high school and many others seemed to be pretty secular, but maybe Columbine high school was different. I think I saw that they had a really big Christian club or something at the time of the massacre, which is definitely unique, I think.  I just know that my view of the massacre was really focused on religion because of my environment. In high school and now as an adult, I just don't really see a stifling or conformist environment in Littleton, but maybe the late 90's were different and maybe Columbine High School was different.

Thanks for the welcome:)

You don't see it as a very religious place? Have you looked around lately? There are churches everywhere and not to mention the HUGE one on Bowles. Anyway, I find a whole lot of Colorado people to be very religious, stuck up, richy, better than you kind of type. Maybe people who fall under those categories don't see it for themselves? I don't know.

I don't know about while Eric and Dylan were attending Columbine, but today there is still a huge religious community there. I've had many people at that school trying to lecture me about God, trying to get me to join youth groups, and telling me not to curse and things like that. I'm sure back in the 90's the it was even worse. (hopefully this comment it relevant.  )