Twenty-one years of Columbine

Every year, I do a thread on the anniversary of Columbine. I start the thread around the beginning of the school year, and point out various anniversaries leading up to the big one itself - the day of the massacre.

Why? It's hard to say, really. I've always been fascinated by dates, and I tend to organize ideas and events chronologically. It helps to put things in perspective.

Today is September 7.

In 1998, the 7th fell on a Monday, so this was Labor Day. Traditionally, Labor Day is considered the "official" end of summer.

At this exact moment in 1998, Eric and Dylan were high-school seniors. They had already started their last year at Columbine. They had already seen their last summer - their last Memorial Day, their last Fourth of July, and now their last Labor Day.

Dylan was just a few days away from his eighteenth birthday - the last birthday that he would ever celebrate. John Tomlin had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday a few days earlier, on the first of the month.

From this moment onward, Eric, Dylan, and thirteen other people would begin marking lots of lasts. Their last Halloween, their last Thanksgiving, their last Christmas, their last New Year's Eve (and Day), their last Valentine's Day, their last Easter.

How far gone were E&D by this point? I would like to believe that either or both boys were capable of being saved up until the moment the first bullet was fired. But who can say?

When you put it that way, it is so sad to me, that at the moment I can't even find it disturbing.

I also believe they could be saved. A little attention would probably made a huge difference. Not that I'm portraying them as victims, but I really do think they were just two fucked up teenagers, or should I say kids, who wanted to feel at least a bit important.

Friday, September 11, 1998

Dylan Klebold celebrates his seventeenth birthday.

Life goes on and on. I wonder if we'll get any new information.

andthentherewas1 wrote:

Life goes on and on. I wonder if we'll get any new information.

I kind of doubt that we ever really will aside from what was said in the depositions. But I am not sure how much information about the shooting will actually be in those. I think it's more so the statements made by the Harris and Klebold families in court.

Those who want new information have to dig and work hard for it. It's out there. It just needs to be found.

On Thursday, November 12, 1998, Eric wrote the following in his journal:

Fuck you Brady! all I want is a couple of guns, and thanks to your fucking bill I will probably not get any! come on, I'll have a clean record and I only want for personal protection. Its not like I'm some person who would go on a shooting spree.... fuckers. Ill probably end up nuking everything and fucking robbing some gun collectors house. Fuck, thatll be be hard. oh well, just as long as I kill a lot of fucking people. Everyone is always making fun of me because of how I look, how fucking weak I am and shit, well I will get you all back: ultimate fucking revenge here. you people could have shown more respect, treated me better, asked for my knowledge or guidence more, treated me more like senior, and maybe I wouldn't have been as ready to tear your fucking heads off. then again, I have always hated how I looked, I make fun of people who look like me, sometimes without even thinking sometimes just because I want to rip on myself. Thats where a lot of my hate grows from, the fact that I have practically no selfesteem, especially concerning girls and looks and such. therefore people make fun of me... constantly... therefore I get no respect and therefore I get fucking PISSED. as of this date I have enough explosives to kill about 100 people, and then if I get a couple bayonetts, swords, axes, whatever I'll be able to kill at least 10 more. and that just isnt enough! GUNS! I need guns! Give me some fucking firearms!
11/12/98

...

The next day was November 13, 1998. Friday the 13th. The last Friday the 13th of Eric and Dylan's lives.

They'd already celebrated their last Halloween. Their last Thanksgiving was coming up. Their last Christmas. Dylan's last Hanukkah (and "fucking Passover" too). Their last New Year's Day. Their last Valentine's Day. Their last Easter.

The days were getting shorter. The weather was getting colder.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer opened in theaters on this day in 1998. Eric and Dylan had already seen their last summer. They were a month and a week away from the beginning of their last winter. They would die a month after the beginning of their last spring.

Two months to go.

I've been an avid Columbine researcher for years and often lurk on this page. I was a senior myself when the massacre happened and only 2 weeks younger than Dylan. By sheer coincidence, my husband and I became pregnant with our second child this past summer... who's offical due date is, you guessed it- April 20, 2020. Nothing special, just an odd coincidence that he's due then, from someone who's been interested (for lack of a better word) in the tragedy for almost 21 years. Needless to say, I scheduled my repeat c section on 4/13 and will NOT be using the names Eric or Dylan!

Time moves so fast. I vividly remember the day I joined the original forums when Columbine was only 7 years away, the Iraq war was 3 years old and Dawson College had just happened the day before yesterday.

13.5 years later... feels like thirty, like lifetime away.

I think the Rampart Range video was filmed around this time....

Can't believe its been nearly 8 years since I learned about this incident, time really flies by.

March 15, 1999

The boys begin filming the basement tapes.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It will always be a mystery to me what drove those two to do what they did. Heck, it could be 100 years from now and we will still be wondering. I just can't imagine being in the library trapped like fish and the two sharks have their way meaning Eric and Dylan as the two sharks. Revenge and hatred consumed them and those are two powerful emotions that can lead to violence and outbursts. Top it all off with mental illness and you have a recipe for disaster.

Is it April already?

Time flies...

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

I didn't think about that. More than 10 people at a given time could not be at the memorial. It will be hard on everyone trying to grieve that day.

Oh well, if corona happened 21 years ago their plan would have failed even more

Btw, it’s Eric’s birthday! (At least in my time zone.)

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Ten days to go.

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Hi there [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - sorry, that it took me a bit to reply. I really loved to hear that the community there gave you so much support right out of the bat. Sounds like you met great people! Hope you are okay in this weird time with the COVID-Crisis.

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Hi there [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - sorry, that it took me a bit to reply. I really loved to hear that the community there gave you so much support right out of the bat. Sounds like you met great people! Hope you are okay in this weird time with the COVID-Crisis.

I did and thanks for reaching out!! I'm okay, it's weird.. I am out of work now and I am trying to figure a few things out... it's hard to be away from my support system too

I haven't heard anything about the memorial being closed on the 20th, I want to go and pay my respects but I don't know if they are going to try to stop so many people from coming or making sure they have masks on...

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Hi there [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - sorry, that it took me a bit to reply. I really loved to hear that the community there gave you so much support right out of the bat. Sounds like you met great people! Hope you are okay in this weird time with the COVID-Crisis.

I did and thanks for reaching out!! I'm okay, it's weird.. I am out of work now and I am trying to figure a few things out... it's hard to be away from my support system too

I haven't heard anything about the memorial being closed on the 20th, I want to go and pay my respects but I don't know if they are going to try to stop so many people from coming or making sure they have masks on...

I would think that legally they would be required to stop people if more than 10 people tried to gather? They are breaking up funerals in my state if more than 10 people show up. So, I could see them doing it at a memorial.

hvernon wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Hi there [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - sorry, that it took me a bit to reply. I really loved to hear that the community there gave you so much support right out of the bat. Sounds like you met great people! Hope you are okay in this weird time with the COVID-Crisis.

I did and thanks for reaching out!! I'm okay, it's weird.. I am out of work now and I am trying to figure a few things out... it's hard to be away from my support system too

I haven't heard anything about the memorial being closed on the 20th, I want to go and pay my respects but I don't know if they are going to try to stop so many people from coming or making sure they have masks on...

I would think that legally they would be required to stop people if more than 10 people tried to gather? They are breaking up funerals in my state if more than 10 people show up. So, I could see them doing it at a memorial.

True, so I imagine people will be stopped from gathering. i'll touch base with my friend and see how she is and maybe do the howl in honor of the victims on that day instead of trying to go.

Are they doing the howl in your area?

LPorter101 wrote:

Every year, I do a thread on the anniversary of Columbine. I start the thread around the beginning of the school year, and point out various anniversaries leading up to the big one itself - the day of the massacre.

Why? It's hard to say, really. I've always been fascinated by dates, and I tend to organize ideas and events chronologically. It helps to put things in perspective.

Today is September 7.

In 1998, the 7th fell on a Monday, so this was Labor Day. Traditionally, Labor Day is considered the "official" end of summer.

At this exact moment in 1998, Eric and Dylan were high-school seniors. They had already started their last year at Columbine. They had already seen their last summer - their last Memorial Day, their last Fourth of July, and now their last Labor Day.

Dylan was just a few days away from his eighteenth birthday - the last birthday that he would ever celebrate. John Tomlin had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday a few days earlier, on the first of the month.

His 17th birthday, but yeah.

From this moment onward, Eric, Dylan, and thirteen other people would begin marking lots of lasts. Their last Halloween, their last Thanksgiving, their last Christmas, their last New Year's Eve (and Day), their last Valentine's Day, their last Easter.

Did each boy think about that?

How far gone were E&D by this point? I would like to believe that either or both boys were capable of being saved up until the moment the first bullet was fired. But who can say?

IMO they weren’t completely gone until maybe a month to six weeks before the shooting. By that time they had resolved themselves to it, if that makes sense? Especially Eric- he had no prospects after high school, was totally directionless. IMO, especially after reading AMR, Dylan was trying to have as much of normalcy as possible, just to avoid suspicion. From all accounts the Klebolds were loving, doting, involved parents, even after Byron turned 18. The boys went through so much planning, preparation, and secrecy that it would’ve been so much easier for them to get the help each one needed.

Eight days to go.

On April 12, 1999, Eric and Dylan were making final preparations for the massacre that they hoped would make them immortal. They fantasized that their exploits would be depicted on film by such luminaries as Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg.

On that date, Cassie Bernall, Steve Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, Rachel Scott, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez, and Dave Sanders were living their lives, not knowing that they had little more than a week to live.

In a weird coincidence, also on that date, the parents of some of the kids slain by Michael Carneal filed a lawsuit against entertainment companies whose products supposedly helped inspire Carneal's deeds of carnage:

Quote :

Parents of slain students to file suit against media, video game companies

By JAMES PRICHARD

PADUCAH, Ky. (April 12, 1999 2:17 p.m. EDT [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - The parents of three students killed in a Kentucky high school shooting spree are taking on the entertainment industry, claiming media violence inspired the boy who fired the shots.

The parents on Monday announced their intent to file a $130 million lawsuit against two Internet porn sites, several computer game companies and the makers and distributors of the 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Basketball Diaries."

The suit will be filed in U.S. District Court later Monday, lawyers said.

"We intend to hurt Hollywood. We intend to hurt the video game industry. We intend to hurt sex porn sites" on the Internet, said Jack Thompson, one of the parents' lawyers.

The lawsuit claims that confessed shooter Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old freshman at Heath High School at the time of the Dec. 1, 1997, shootings, was influenced by the violence in "The Basketball Diaries" and by several violent computer games such as "Doom," "Quake," and "Mortal Kombat."

One scene in "The Basketball Diaries" shows a dream sequence in which the main character, played by DiCaprio, guns down his teacher and some of his classmates.

The suit also claims Carneal was an avid computer user who logged onto Internet porn sites to view sexually violent material.

The shooting spree claimed the lives of Jessica James, Kayce Steger and Nicole Hadley and wounded five other students.

"We believe the Heath shooter was influenced by the movies he watched, the computer games he played and the Internet sites he visited," Sabrina Steger, Kayce's mother, told reporters.

Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill last October to nine charges, including three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. In December, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years.

Among the defendants listed in the lawsuit are the film's makers and distributors, including Time Warner Inc. and Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc.; computer game makers Nintendo of America Inc., Sega of America Inc. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.; and the Internet sex sites Network Authentication Systems Inc. and Meow Media Inc.

The parents also filed a state lawsuit last December charging Carneal, his parents and several administrators, teachers and students at the school with being partly responsible for the shootings.

Visiting Judge Will Shadoan later dismissed 24 defendants - 19 administrators and teachers and five students - from the lawsuit. But the parents have asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reinstate the 24 as defendants.

Screamingophelia wrote:

hvernon wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

arnounymus wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

It's so weird, and we cannot gather at the park to remember... I think the park is still open so i can go to the memorial.

Tbh, one day I would also like to visit the memorial. Although I personally have no connections to any person regarding Columbine, so I would maybe have a little bit of a weird feeling because I don't "belong" there. But I would like to just see it, feel the atmosphere and bring a flower for every deceased woman and man there.

That is a normal thought to be honest. The year I moved to Denver a forum member visited and we went to the memorial together and then to the cemetery where Cory, Mr. Sanders and Rachel are buried and I felt really embraced by the community. People nodded at me, i got a hug.. and he felt out of place. I only lived there for 3 days! I moved for a job.

Hi there [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - sorry, that it took me a bit to reply. I really loved to hear that the community there gave you so much support right out of the bat. Sounds like you met great people! Hope you are okay in this weird time with the COVID-Crisis.

I did and thanks for reaching out!! I'm okay, it's weird.. I am out of work now and I am trying to figure a few things out... it's hard to be away from my support system too

I haven't heard anything about the memorial being closed on the 20th, I want to go and pay my respects but I don't know if they are going to try to stop so many people from coming or making sure they have masks on...

I would think that legally they would be required to stop people if more than 10 people tried to gather? They are breaking up funerals in my state if more than 10 people show up. So, I could see them doing it at a memorial.

True, so I imagine people will be stopped from gathering. i'll touch base with my friend and see how she is and maybe do the howl in honor of the victims on that day instead of trying to go.

Are they doing the howl in your area?

I believe in the bigger cities, yes. I live in such a rural area. I hear coyotes every night. But who knows, some of those might be people now! I could see some sort of small event such as the howl happening in honor of the victims. I don't think that the community will just do nothing. They'll find a way to grieve together.

Five days to go. On this day in 1999, Eric met with the Marine recruiter.

Here is a list of things that Eric and Dylan and their victims never knew or heard about: coronavirus, 9/11, Iraq War II, Hurricane Katrina, Great Recession, Barack Obama, President Trump, Balloon Boy, Heath Ledger, Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, iPhone, iPad.

Hell, they never even knew about the iPod. Or MySpace. Or Ventrilo. Or Napster.

If memory serves, 21 years ago tomorrow was the prom so I think today they also made one of the last Basement Tapes, according to AMR Eric slept over... something I find kind of funny was when Dylan said "eric doesn't care if the room is messy" have you MET Eric. A cat threw up in the room.... Eric doesn't want to sleep in there. I mean I never met Eric and I can assume Eric would not have wanted to sleep in a room with old cat vomit.

I know my friend is going through a lot now with the isolation etc. and the virus so I want to make sure I check in on her with the anniversary coming up too. If I don't go to the memorial on the 20th, I might take a walk through the park the day before, there will probably be a lot less people.

Four days to go.

Eric, Dylan, and thirteen other people had already seen their last full Tuesday, their last Wednesday, their last Thursday. This day (April 16) was their last Friday.

At this very moment twenty-one years ago, it was a little after ten o'clock in the evening on April 17.

Most of Columbine's seniors (including a tall, gangly kid with a big chin named after a 1960s counterculture icon) were having the time of their lives at the prom and the afterparty.

Except for that one kid, and his shorter friend (who spent the evening at home watching a movie with a girl he knew), no one knew that over a dozen lives were about to end, and hundreds if not thousands of people (survivors, friends, loved ones, etc.) would have their lives changed forever.

For Eric, Dylan, their victims, and so many other people, this was truly The Last Weekend of the Age of Innocence.

(Yes, I know that Dylan was named after Dylan Thomas and not Bob Dylan. But Tom and Sue Klebold are nothing if not the archetypal aging boomers.)

Tuesday morning.

The sun is coming up in Denver as I write these words. This will be the last sunrise that fifteen people will ever see.

I woke up saddened by today and what it represents. I remembered those that lost their lives as well as those who later died. Those who were affected, I thought of. But then I became happy. Even though this is a difficult day we must think that those lost would want us to be happy. Their lives they lost, but we still have ours. It is a previous gift. Life can be difficult but we still get a chancr to live.

They would want us to remember them but to also celebrate their lives and memories. Let us be thankful for our lives. Let those who know them cherish their friends and family. Let us not mourn but rather celebrate them. Celebrate their lives and how they are still loved. Be happy today. This woukd be my final wish for my friends and family and again I do believe they would want us all to do the same.

I never knew them but I know they want us to be happy. And I am doing all I can to remember them but to do so in a positive way.

One more year, feels surreal!
My thoughts are with victims and deranged duo who unfortunately made a terrible decision.
Btw, is there any news or reports worth reading?

It is another really beautiful day after a cold and snowy weekend.

I went to the memorial yesterday since I think it will be really crowded today and with social distancing I didn't want to be in anyone's way.

Maybe there would have been some more media about this anniversary if it wasn't for the virus.

I imagine that's true.

Onyx wrote:

One more year, feels surreal!
My thoughts are with victims and deranged duo who unfortunately made a terrible decision.
Btw, is there any news or reports worth reading?

AP posted a video about April 20 in history but it's not that interesting. Someone tried putting a homemade documentary on youtube but it got removed.

There was an interesting piece about Austin Eubanks on NowThisNews today but I can't post it because my account is too new.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] this one, right? [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If not for the virus, I would have been in Denver today and was planning to go to the memorial. It’s unreal that it’s been 21 years now. I remember watching people streaming out of the school on the news, and yelling for my mom to come see. I was home sick that day so saw it as soon as reporting started.

I hope they’re all at peace, for whatever that may be worth. It’s a sad day.

I imagine the class of 1999 has to feel a bit of a kinship with the class of 2020. The class of 2020 doesn’t get to have their prime or graduation etc. they can’t be around her friends. And Innoway the seniors were pretty much slept in a lurch back in 99

Something that Mr. D said last year at the memorial event he said he feels regretful for the class of 1999 that they’re always in his heart. Because they didn’t have anybody after, they didn’t have the community that the kids who went back to school in the fall did. They were meant to just go off to college and work and try to deal with the aftermath on their own

Yes that's the one.

It's 11 a.m. right now.

At this moment, Eric and Dylan were still high-school students. In a few minutes, they became murderers. And in little more than an hour, they became corpses.

N/A

It's 11:13 am mountain time. It seems surreal that 21 years ago, 7 miles from me, kids were getting ready for lunch and in 10 minutes lives are changed forever.

11:19.

The shooting begins.

11:29.

They're in the library now.

Rachel Scott and Danny Rohrbough are already dead. Dave Sanders is already dying. In the next few minutes, ten lives will end and many more will be changed forever.

Damn, I just realized they committed suicide over 20 minutes ago. RIP