Wednesday, April 22, 2009

-GUNS USED-









































-MOTAVATIONS?-

There have been many theories for why Eric and Dylan committed the crime. Some say the dark music that they listened to played a huge part in this.The boys favorite singer was Marilyn Manson. After Columbine he was criticized for his dark lyrics because the media said that it ignited the boys to shoot up the school. When interviewed Manson was asked, "What would you have said to the killers?" He responded by saying, "Nothing. I would have listened, because no one else did." Manson canceled his last three concerts for the victims at Columbine. Another theory for why the boys did this was the bullying that they received. This was over exaggerated in the media a lot, in the boys journals there is little talk about bullying. Some believe that the boys wanted to outdo the Oklahoma City Bombings, Waco, and other similar events. They wrote about wanting to outdo these events in their journals. They said that they wanted to leave a lasting impression on the world like Timothy McVeigh (Pictured on the right) did with the Oklahoma City Bombings.

-THE SHOOTING-

On Tuesday, April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at Columbine High School at 11:10 a.m. They met each other and said there final good byes on their camera. They each said sorry to their parents and said they will be happier dead than alive. Earlier they set up a small fire bomb in a field three miles way from the school, they hoped this would distract law enforcement while they were at the school. The bomb went off and a small fire broke out on the field. Law enforcement and a fire truck showed up, but it was not a very big fire. They went into the school with two twenty pound propane bombs in their backpacks. They walked into the school and set them in the cafeteria. These bombs were timed so they were suppose to go off at a designated time. Their original plan was to have the bombs go off at 11:17 a.m., and as the kids ran out of the school they were going to shoot at them and kill as many as they could. The bombs failed to detonate, so the two boys decided to enter the school. At 11:19 a.m. the boys began to run towards the school, they shot 12 people on their way into the school. Many students inside the school thought this was a senior prank so they were not immediately startled by what they were seeing. The two boys then enter the school through the West entrance and threw pipe bombs in the hallway (none detonated). At 11:24 a.m. the police were called by a teacher in the classroom. The boys continued through the school and shot at any one that got in their way. They were now in the schools library. They threw a pipe bomb into the library which exploded. Harris then yelled "Everyone with a white cap or baseball cap, stand up!" and "All jocks stand up! We'll get the guys in white hats!" (wearing a white baseball cap at Columbine was a tradition amongst sports team members). When no one stood up, Eric was heard to say: "Fine, I'll start anyway!" They began to shoot at people hiding under desk and made racial remarks to a black person that was hiding under a desk, and then shot him point blank. While they were in the library 22 people were either injured or dead. The boys then made their way back into the cafeteria, and looked at their propane bombs which did not detonate earlier. Klebold light a Molotov cocktail, and throw it at the propane bomb. As the two left the cafeteria, it exploded, partially detonating one of the propane bombs at 11:48 a.m. They left the cafeteria and looked around for a bit. After awhile they made their way back into the library. They began to shoot at police through the windows of the library. The two boys could be seen laughing while shooting at the cops. The shooting finally stopped, two final gun shots were heard, the two boys had taken their own lives. In total there were 15 deaths including the killers. There were 24 people that were injured during the shooting. This was the one of the most watched tragedy's on television. The shooting at Columbine High School was the fourth deadliest school shooting in North America. Fifteen crosses were constructed a few days after the shooting in memory of all the victims and the two killers. Angry parents however tore down Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold crosses.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were thought to have been pretty normal kids. They lived in nice homes and had families that took care of them. They were both seniors at Columbine High School Eric was 18 years old and Dylan was 17 years old.Like at every school there are a select group of outcast kid's, Dylan and Eric fit that title at Columbine. They did not play sport's or have many friends and were bullied by "jocks" allot while at school. They loved to play video games, one of their favorite video games was a game called Doom. This was a first person shooting game where you walk around and kill people. Some of their favorite music that they listened to were Rammstein,KMFDM, Orbital, The Prodigy, and most notably Marilyn Manson. The two boys began to write journals months before the shooting. They talked about what life meant to them, their views on people they knew, their family, their views on society, and the shooting. In October 1998 Eric Harris wrote, "I want to burn the world, I want to kill everyone except about 5 people...if we get busted any time, we start killing then and there...I ain't going out without a fight." The journals that the boys wrote show their true rage and hate towards the world. They also filmed some events that took place before the shooting. They filmed themselves shooting their guns that they had bought and stole, they filmed themselves making pipe bombs, and other films were themselves talking about the hate they had towards other people..These films are known as the basement tapes. Eric Harris had a strong belief in the theory natural selection, this is where the weak die and the strong survive. On the day of the shooting he wore a shirt that said "NATURAL SELECTION" on it. The two boys were good friends and did not care or worry about death at all. They wanted to show the world how far they had been pushed, and they accomplished that.