How exactly did Eric "let Brooks go"?

I don't see how Eric "let Brooks go". Let him go from what, exactly? When Eric supposedly ran into Brooks out in the parking lot, it was around 11:14 AM. That's 3 minutes before the Cafeteria bombs were set to explode. 4 minutes before the car bombs were set to explode. And roughly 5 minutes before they were meant to start shooting at people had things went to plan and the bombs exploded and survivors started running into the parking lot.

WHY would Eric risk messing up the plan to pull out his gun and shoot Brooks 3 minutes before anything was even meant to happen? If Eric would have shot Brooks when he saw him, people would have started calling 911. The cop would probably have gotten to Eric while he was still in the parking lot and probably shot him. People in the Cafeteria would hear the blast and start panicking and running out of the school. It would have ruined everything. And for what? To kill Brooks because he "cursed Eric out"?

I already can't stand Brooks as it but this whole "Eric let me go because he loved me now and didn't wanna kill me and I know he didn't wanna kill me because I could see it in his eyes just how much I really meant to him now" just annoys me. Uh, no he didn't shoot you because it would have messed up their entire plan. If he "let Brooks go" then he let anyone else who walked pass his car at 11:14 go too, right? It's ridiculous.

If Brooks ran into Eric that morning, then fine, he ran into him but of course this attention seeking moron had to be all dramatic telling this story about how Eric "let him go". Eric and Dylan let John Savage go. HE was in danger, he was in real danger of being murdered, not Brooks. And do you see him making all these accounts all over social media, trying to get attention about being a survivor? Nope, not the guy who was actually hiding under a table and had a gun in his face who could have actually been murdered.

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

That's pretty much it. He was let go, not because of compassion but because of convenience.

That was always the way I thought about that situation as well. The only reason Brooks lived is because Eric didn't want to risk throwing off the scheduled timeline of the attack. If Eric had come across Brooks in the library, I have very little doubt that he would have shot him.

TheSpiral wrote:

That's pretty much it. He was let go, not because of compassion but because of convenience.

EXACTLY!

Jenn wrote:

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

I have some major issues with Brooks as well. He will swear off talking about Columbine, saying he has put it behind him. Yet can't seem to stop using his involvement to his advantage. I wonder how his parents feel about the way their son who was lucky enough to have survived Columbine has used the tragedy over the years to prey on naive young girls(fangirls) for his own needs? Trading info about Eric and Dylan in exchange for who knows what is just sick in my opinion. Even if you knew nothing about Brooks at all, that one thing would be enough to tell you what kind of person he truly was and apparently still is.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

That was always the way I thought about that situation as well. The only reason Brooks lived is because Eric didn't want to risk throwing off the scheduled timeline of the attack. If Eric had come across Brooks in the library, I have very little doubt that he would have shot him.

I'm not convinced he would have shot him if he'd seen him in the library. If they let John Savage go, I'm pretty sure Brooks would have been given chance to flee. Perhaps more for Dylan's sake than Brooks, but I don't think Eric would have shot him unless Brooks tried to be a hero.

Yea but my point is, in order to let someone go, they'd need to be in some kind of hostage situation. Brooks was never in any kind of situation like that. He was never held against his will, he never had a gun in his face, he was never threatened. He was never in any danger whatsoever. At best, he spoke to Eric and that's it. He wasn't a victim, he wasn't a survivor. He wasn't even on the school grounds when the shooting started. You can't "survive" something that you weren't even present for but I won't get into that.

He walked outside, lit his cigarette, saw Eric pull up, walked over and asked Eric why he wasn't in school for the test and apparently "cursed Eric out". Eric said that he liked him and told Brooks to go home and that's it. 5 minutes later, after Brooks was blocks away from the school, is when Eric pulled out his gun and started shooting.

I guess it's all a matter of opinion but in my opinion, Eric didn't "let Brooks go" because he never had Brooks in any situation where Brooks couldn't just walk away freely at any point in time. Which he did.

Draw_It_White wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

That was always the way I thought about that situation as well. The only reason Brooks lived is because Eric didn't want to risk throwing off the scheduled timeline of the attack. If Eric had come across Brooks in the library, I have very little doubt that he would have shot him.

I'm not convinced he would have shot him if he'd seen him in the library. If they let John Savage go, I'm pretty sure Brooks would have been given chance to flee. Perhaps more for Dylan's sake than Brooks, but I don't think Eric would have shot him unless Brooks tried to be a hero.

John Savage wasn't a bully or a jock, he had never gotten on Dylan's or more importantly Eric's bad side. Maybe Dylan's friendship with Brooks might have effected Eric's willingness to kill him, or maybe not. Maybe Eric would have seen Brooks and shot before really thinking of Dylan.

Jenn wrote:

Yea but my point is, in order to let someone go, they'd need to be in some kind of hostage situation. Brooks was never in any kind of situation like that. He was never held against his will, he never had a gun in his face, he was never threatened. He was never in any danger whatsoever. At best, he spoke to Eric and that's it. He wasn't a victim, he wasn't a survivor. He wasn't even on the school grounds when the shooting started. You can't "survive" something that you weren't even present for but I won't get into that.

He walked outside, lit his cigarette, saw Eric pull up, walked over and asked Eric why he wasn't in school for the test and apparently "cursed Eric out". Eric said that he liked him and told Brooks to go home and that's it. 5 minutes later, after Brooks was blocks away from the school, is when Eric pulled out his gun and started shooting.

I guess it's all a matter of opinion but in my opinion, Eric didn't "let Brooks go" because he never had Brooks in any situation where Brooks couldn't just walk away freely at any point in time. Which he did.

I fully agree with that too. Brooks has used the fact of knowing Eric and Dylan to keep himself in the spotlight of Columbine. I was just alluding to his true character. Which in my opinion is lacking in morals.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Jenn wrote:

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

I have some major issues with Brooks as well. He will swear off talking about Columbine, saying he has put it behind him. Yet can't seem to stop using his involvement to his advantage. I wonder how his parents feel about the way their son who was lucky enough to have survived Columbine has used the tragedy over the years to prey on naive young girls(fangirls) for his own needs? Trading info about Eric and Dylan in exchange for who knows what is just sick in my opinion.  Even if you knew nothing about Brooks at all, that one thing would be enough to tell you what kind of person he truly was and apparently still is.

Yep. That is the reason I despise Brooks. He intentionally goes on Tumblr, knowing it is full of a bunch of teenage girls who are obviously into Dylan and Eric because they have issues of their own. Whether it has to do with bullying, being an outcast, self esteem issues. And this dirty pervert is on there for what? What reason does he have, a nearly 40 year old grown ass man, to be on Tumblr talking to these young girls? He's using a tragedy and taking advantage of young girls knowing they want any information they can get on Dylan and Eric.

Eric couldn't stand Brooks and knew he was no good and a liar from the time they were like 15 and Dylan hadn't been close friends with Dylan since they were like 5. Brooks uses these stupid stories to try and talk with these fans and it's disgusting. I don't believe Dylan gave Brooks Eric's website. That's just another lie Brooks uses to try and convince people he was friends with these guys. Even Dylan's Mom said she had no idea why Judy Brown even showed up at her house because Dylan and Brooks hadn't really been friends in years and we're supposed to believe Dylan actually turned on Eric to give Brooks a website? Yea, OK. Aaron Brown is the one who reported the website. Common sense tells me he's also the one who found it. Brooks admits to being a liar but people are so willing to believe what he says and I don't get that.

Still, Brooks is a party to these events. In the end he knew both shooters much better than any of us. After it happened, he was accused that he just walked away and did not warn anyone. How would you feel in his place? And his activity partly stems from the fact that all the time he is forced to justify and prove his innocence to the case. And I think that such an active position of Brooks' parents in this matter is due precisely to the fact that they had to prove to everyone that their son wasn't really involved in the NBK planning.

Love wrote:

How would you feel in his place? And his activity partly stems from the fact that all the time he is forced to justify and prove his innocence to the case.

I don't know what I would do if I were ever accused of something like Columbine. Although I do know I wouldn't be using my knowledge of the event to get sick kicks from underage girls.

Brooks was proven innocent along time ago. His wrongful accusation should have no bearing on how he chooses to act now, and it in no way, shape, or form justifies his actions in recent years regarding his taste for stringing teen girls around bartering info for whatever he could get from them.

As I said before, if you knew nothing else about Brooks Brown, that fact alone should show you his true self.

Jenn wrote:

I don't see how Eric "let Brooks go". Let him go from what, exactly? When Eric supposedly ran into Brooks out in the parking lot, it was around 11:14 AM. That's 3 minutes before the Cafeteria bombs were set to explode. 4 minutes before the car bombs were set to explode. And roughly 5 minutes before they were meant to start shooting at people had things went to plan and the bombs exploded and survivors started running into the parking lot.

WHY would Eric risk messing up the plan to pull out his gun and shoot Brooks 3 minutes before anything was even meant to happen? If Eric would have shot Brooks when he saw him, people would have started calling 911. The cop would probably have gotten to Eric while he was still in the parking lot and probably shot him. People in the Cafeteria would hear the blast and start panicking and running out of the school. It would have ruined everything. And for what? To kill Brooks because he "cursed Eric out"?

I already can't stand Brooks as it but this whole "Eric let me go because he loved me now and didn't wanna kill me and I know he didn't wanna kill me because I could see it in his eyes just how much I really meant to him now" just annoys me. Uh, no he didn't shoot you because it would have messed up their entire plan. If he "let Brooks go" then he let anyone else who walked pass his car at 11:14 go too, right? It's ridiculous.

If Brooks ran into Eric that morning, then fine, he ran into him but of course this attention seeking moron had to be all dramatic telling this story about how Eric "let him go". Eric and Dylan let John Savage go. HE was in danger, he was in real danger of being murdered, not Brooks. And do you see him making all these accounts all over social media, trying to get attention about being a survivor? Nope, not the guy who was actually hiding under a table and had a gun in his face who could have actually been murdered.

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

I'd say, in defense of Brooks slightly, he has acknowledged that Eric probably didn't shoot him due to it not being in the plans as well (was on his reddit Q&A). Another theory is that Eric let brooks live so brooks would have to live his life knowing that Eric is the reason he is alive

good points [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and everyone else in this thread.

>I don't know what I would do if I were ever accused of something like Columbine.

You could become an MMA fighter like Rocky Hoffschneider did. Also you could write a crazy pissed off response to an overblown article that some guy writes about you that gets a lot of facts wrong and confuses you with your brother.

I should also note that if there's anything I'd want to dispute that Brooks said in his book....I don't dislike the guy nearly as much as the rest of you seem to, but I sort of cringed with a kind of "did that really happen?" emotion when I read that he rebuked Frank DeAngelis at the graduation ceremony (not that DeAngelis doesn't necessarily deserve it...)

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

I should also note that if there's anything I'd want to dispute that Brooks said in his book....I don't dislike the guy nearly as much as the rest of you seem to, but I sort of cringed with a kind of "did that really happen?" emotion when I read that he rebuked Frank DeAngelis at the graduation ceremony (not that DeAngelis doesn't necessarily deserve it...

Don't get me wrong, I honestly feel how Brooks was treated by JeffCo was awful. JeffCo tried to shift attention off the fact they botched a chance that may have stopped Columbine by throwing Brooks to the wolves, and trying to discredit his family. That would have been a nightmare to live through.

I truly feel sorry for him in that regard. BUT the way Brooks has conducted himself over the years makes it hard to keep sympathizing with him.

By the way, I also do not think that the DeAngelis incident happened as he stated either. Brooks by his own admission was a liar. So the fact that he willingly admits to it, makes it hard to put much stock in anything he says.

Jenn wrote:

I don't see how Eric "let Brooks go". Let him go from what, exactly? When Eric supposedly ran into Brooks out in the parking lot, it was around 11:14 AM. That's 3 minutes before the Cafeteria bombs were set to explode. 4 minutes before the car bombs were set to explode. And roughly 5 minutes before they were meant to start shooting at people had things went to plan and the bombs exploded and survivors started running into the parking lot.

WHY would Eric risk messing up the plan to pull out his gun and shoot Brooks 3 minutes before anything was even meant to happen? If Eric would have shot Brooks when he saw him, people would have started calling 911. The cop would probably have gotten to Eric while he was still in the parking lot and probably shot him. People in the Cafeteria would hear the blast and start panicking and running out of the school. It would have ruined everything. And for what? To kill Brooks because he "cursed Eric out"?

I already can't stand Brooks as it but this whole "Eric let me go because he loved me now and didn't wanna kill me and I know he didn't wanna kill me because I could see it in his eyes just how much I really meant to him now" just annoys me. Uh, no he didn't shoot you because it would have messed up their entire plan. If he "let Brooks go" then he let anyone else who walked pass his car at 11:14 go too, right? It's ridiculous.

If Brooks ran into Eric that morning, then fine, he ran into him but of course this attention seeking moron had to be all dramatic telling this story about how Eric "let him go". Eric and Dylan let John Savage go. HE was in danger, he was in real danger of being murdered, not Brooks. And do you see him making all these accounts all over social media, trying to get attention about being a survivor? Nope, not the guy who was actually hiding under a table and had a gun in his face who could have actually been murdered.

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

Did Eric even see Brooks that morning? I don't believe a single thing that narcissistic, disgusting pedophile has to say.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

I should also note that if there's anything I'd want to dispute that Brooks said in his book....I don't dislike the guy nearly as much as the rest of you seem to, but I sort of cringed with a kind of "did that really happen?" emotion when I read that he rebuked Frank DeAngelis at the graduation ceremony (not that DeAngelis doesn't necessarily deserve it...

Don't get me wrong, I honestly feel how Brooks was treated by JeffCo was awful. JeffCo tried to shift attention off the fact they botched a chance that may have stopped Columbine by throwing Brooks to the wolves, and trying to discredit his family. That would have been a nightmare to live through.

I truly feel sorry for him in that regard. BUT the way Brooks has conducted himself over the years makes it hard to keep sympathizing with him.

By the way, I also do not think that the DeAngelis incident happened as he stated either. Brooks by his own admission was a liar. So the fact that he willingly admits to it, makes it hard to put much stock in anything he says.

Eric hated Brooks because he lied about dumb shit that was outrageously unbelievable, like his family are so powerful they could blow anybody up; or that he can throw a ball at near 100 miles an hour (at 16 years old) or that he can run a mile in under a minute (looking at Brooks he wasn't fit enough to do anything much).

Ivan wrote:

Did Eric even see Brooks that morning? I don't believe a single thing that narcissistic, disgusting pedophile has to say.

The fact that Brooks admits several times to being a liar makes me question everything he says. I read his book with a salt shaker near by.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Ivan wrote:

Did Eric even see Brooks that morning? I don't believe a single thing that narcissistic, disgusting pedophile has to say.

The fact that Brooks admits several times to being a liar makes me question everything he says. I read his book with a salt shaker near by.

He's nothing more than an attention seeker. Using a tragedy to groom children online; was only a matter of time before he molested one of them. Why is he not in prison? That's a serious question.

Man, I bet Eric wished he did kill him that day now that all this crap has come out.

Another lie by Brooks Brown; Dylan DID NOT show him Eric's website. It was his little brother.

Dylan and Brooks were only close in elementary school. By the time he arrived at Ken Carol Middle School; it was all Eric & Dylan.

Ivan wrote:

Another lie by Brooks Brown; Dylan DID NOT show him Eric's website. It was his little brother.

Dylan and Brooks were only close in elementary school. By the time he arrived at Ken Carol Middle School; it was all Eric & Dylan.

Very true. From everything I have read Brooks was little more than an acquaintance to Dylan and an annoying fly to Eric. Just trying to insert himself in to remain relevant. He says he wants to put Columbine behind him, but then goes around proclaiming he is a Columbine Survivor every chance he gets.

"The Columbine Killers Saved My Life" FHM Article 2004 - Brooks & Randy Brown

Ivan wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

I should also note that if there's anything I'd want to dispute that Brooks said in his book....I don't dislike the guy nearly as much as the rest of you seem to, but I sort of cringed with a kind of "did that really happen?" emotion when I read that he rebuked Frank DeAngelis at the graduation ceremony (not that DeAngelis doesn't necessarily deserve it...

Don't get me wrong, I honestly feel how Brooks was treated by JeffCo was awful. JeffCo tried to shift attention off the fact they botched a chance that may have stopped Columbine by throwing Brooks to the wolves, and trying to discredit his family. That would have been a nightmare to live through.

I truly feel sorry for him in that regard. BUT the way Brooks has conducted himself over the years makes it hard to keep sympathizing with him.

By the way, I also do not think that the DeAngelis incident happened as he stated either. Brooks by his own admission was a liar. So the fact that he willingly admits to it, makes it hard to put much stock in anything he says.

Eric hated Brooks because he lied about dumb shit that was outrageously unbelievable, like his family are so powerful they could blow anybody up; or that he can throw a ball at near 100 miles an hour (at 16 years old) or that he can run a mile in under a minute (looking at Brooks he wasn't fit enough to do anything much).

Lol, Brooks told Eric that he could run a mile in under 5 minutes, not under 1 minute. I don't even think Brooks was athletic (he didn't look it to me anyways) and he smoked several cigarettes every day. I seriously doubt he could even run a mile in 10 minutes, let alone 5. I've never even heard of anyone running a mile in 5 minutes.

Ivan wrote:

Jenn wrote:

I don't see how Eric "let Brooks go". Let him go from what, exactly? When Eric supposedly ran into Brooks out in the parking lot, it was around 11:14 AM. That's 3 minutes before the Cafeteria bombs were set to explode. 4 minutes before the car bombs were set to explode. And roughly 5 minutes before they were meant to start shooting at people had things went to plan and the bombs exploded and survivors started running into the parking lot.

WHY would Eric risk messing up the plan to pull out his gun and shoot Brooks 3 minutes before anything was even meant to happen? If Eric would have shot Brooks when he saw him, people would have started calling 911. The cop would probably have gotten to Eric while he was still in the parking lot and probably shot him. People in the Cafeteria would hear the blast and start panicking and running out of the school. It would have ruined everything. And for what? To kill Brooks because he "cursed Eric out"?

I already can't stand Brooks as it but this whole "Eric let me go because he loved me now and didn't wanna kill me and I know he didn't wanna kill me because I could see it in his eyes just how much I really meant to him now" just annoys me. Uh, no he didn't shoot you because it would have messed up their entire plan. If he "let Brooks go" then he let anyone else who walked pass his car at 11:14 go too, right? It's ridiculous.

If Brooks ran into Eric that morning, then fine, he ran into him but of course this attention seeking moron had to be all dramatic telling this story about how Eric "let him go". Eric and Dylan let John Savage go. HE was in danger, he was in real danger of being murdered, not Brooks. And do you see him making all these accounts all over social media, trying to get attention about being a survivor? Nope, not the guy who was actually hiding under a table and had a gun in his face who could have actually been murdered.

Every few years Brooks has to show up somewhere on social media, trying to keep himself relevant by carrying on about how he's a "survivor" and how he was let go, even though he was blocks away smoking his cigarette before any shooting even started happening.

Did Eric even see Brooks that morning? I don't believe a single thing that narcissistic, disgusting pedophile has to say.

He probably saw him, yea, but I don't know if he actually talked to him or not. There are witnesses who saw Brooks walking down the street and when Brooks heard Eric start shooting and called the police, he mentioned Eric by name and told them he thought Eric was the shooter. So I do think he saw him and the time frame fits for him to have actually talked to him but I'm not really questioning whether or not he saw him.

My question is how exactly did Eric "let Brooks go"? He didn't let Brooks go. Like I was saying, at best, he spoke to him and that's it. Brooks was halfway down the road before Eric even pulled a gun out and started shooting. Eric never let him go at all. Brooks is just an attention seeking asshole who uses Columbine for attention, to try and make himself relevant and to prey on young girls who only talk to him because they want information about Dylan and Eric. He's disgusting.

It really is a toss up for me on which one is worse, Brooks, Josh Duggar, or Onision.

I always thought Brooks was told to leave because shooting him before would have foiled their plans. Plus Brooks may be one of those people who will just start talking your ear off and there wasn't time.

Brooks has been using his whole "I was in Columbine, drop your pants for me" since the beginning. He did the same thing to my friend when were in NYC. I was always suspect of him talking about how weird and nerdy E&D were... what is the point of talking like that after they died and after they did horrible things? Coming from Brooks it has always irritated me. Like, just stop it... so someone thought Dylan was good looking, get over it. As long as they are not saying people deserved to die it's not a problem.


The only people I considered "let go" were people like John Savage, Bree and Evan Todd. Those who were actually in the crossfire.

I hate Brooks. He's just a pedophile that wants attention because he knew the shooters.

I don't know but the decisions he continues to make even as a grown man make you question everything he says about that day. I think he knew they were going to do it and it wasn't just some coincidence he left when he did. Not to mention he ate lunch with them and sat with them in the class photo making shooting gestures as well.

IMHO in regards to Brooks is he is a glory whore and will say anything needed to get attention. I just regret that Eric didn't tell Brooks to wait for him in the library.

I'm skimming through the 11k and found the following comments about Brooks Brown from Renee Kinsella's deposition kind of interesting:

"That Renee did not believe Brooks had prior knowledge of the CHS incident because he has a reputation for being a 'male gossiper' and she does not believe that Dylan and Eric would trust him with that information."

"That Renee also advised that she is not surprised that Brooks is on television so much (as a result of this incident), stating 'He's an actor.'"

Szabo wrote:

I'm skimming through the 11k and found the following comments about Brooks Brown from Renee Kinsella's deposition kind of interesting:

"That Renee did not believe Brooks had prior knowledge of the CHS incident because he has a reputation for being a 'male gossiper' and she does not believe that Dylan and Eric would trust him with that information."

"That Renee also advised that she is not surprised that Brooks is on television so much (as a result of this incident), stating 'He's an actor.'"

Almost everyone who knew Brooks pretty much says the same thing. He liked to talk, was a known liar, he liked to fabricate stories to make himself look good or to make himself seem important. Brooks even admits to it.

Over the years he has proved that he still hasn't grown out of it. Which is why I don't put much faith in his book.