Massacre at Columbine School April 20, 1999 - Eric Harris, Dylan Klibold, the list of the dead and wounded

In modern US history, the massacre at Columbine School takes a special place. The massacre, organized by two teenagers, shocked the whole country. This event led to a public dispute over violent video games and permission to purchase firearms.

Harris and Klibold

The Columbine School in Colorado did not differ from thousands of similar educational institutions across the country. Here in the last class the friends of Eric and Dylan studied. They differed in their heavy character and strange habits. A few years before the massacre in the Columbine school, schoolchildren found themselves in the police because of hooliganism and computer theft.

Young people clashed with their peers. Eric Harris went to see a psychiatrist because he was diagnosed with depression. He took medicines that could have a negative impact on his behavior. Friends led a blog on the Internet, where they posted amateur videos related to the production of explosives and weapons.

Plan of shooters

On April 20, 1999, Eric and Dylan planned an explosion at their own school. To do this, they for several months secretly engaged in the production of various bombs. According to their plan, they had to lay explosives in the school cafeteria and go to the street. After the detonator has worked, the shooters were supposed to open fire on the students and staff who ran out in panic. In total, friends were going to kill up to five hundred people.

If the bombs were produced by Eric and Dylan in an artisanal way, then they had to go to the trick to get the weapon. None of the shooters have yet reached adulthood, so they asked to buy the trunks familiar, which for this went to Denver. The girl did not suspect about the plans of Hariss and Klibold.

Start attack

April 20, 1999 friends came to their school. They went to the cafeteria, where they quietly installed the bombs with detonators, after which they hurried to the street. However, at the appointed time, the explosion did not happen. First, Harris and Klibold decided to wait a few more minutes for reinsurance. However, when nothing happened after that, they moved on to plan "B".

It consisted in the fact that the archers took weapons from their car and went to the classes to organize a carnage. Thus began the massacre at Columbine School. When Harris took a sports bag with him, he was met by a schoolmate who asked why he missed classes. Instead of a clear answer, Eric told a friend: "I like you. Go away. Go home. " Within a minute this guy heard the first shots.

The first killed

The first victims of the shooters was a couple who sat on the lawn in front of the school. A girl from bullet wounds died right away, and her friend later became disabled. After that, the archers opened a random fire on the guys who were in sight. So three friends were seriously injured, who decided that high school students just played them.

In the future, the massacre at Columbine School moved into it. The archers entered the building from the emergency entrance. Once in the west wing, they began to shoot those who were in the corridor. The next targets were the students sitting in the offices nearby. One of the teachers went to the library, where she called the service 911. Soon they learned about the incident in the police. A dress went to school.

When the police were in place, Klibold and Hariss were already inside the building. The officers managed to notice the shooters through the window, after which a firefight began. However, no one was injured or injured.

Slaughterhouse in the library

At this time, friends were heading to the library. Here they killed most of the people. Their victims were 10 students. They all hid under the tables when Dylan Klibold and his friend entered the room. However, this did not save them. Here, shooting at the US Columbia School was fought. The murderers approached their victims closely and shot them in cold blood. Teenagers scoffed at wounded and dumbstruck peers, asking them tricky questions about the desire to die and faith in God. Arrows clearly enjoyed what was happening. According to the reminiscences of surviving eyewitnesses, Klibold and Harris constantly laughed and made fun of each other.

In addition, the comrades took with them carbon dioxide bombs, which they decided to use directly in the library. One of them was thrown under the table, where the pupil of the school was hiding. A dozen shots were made for some victims. When friends left the library after twenty minutes, 12 people were killed in the school. Another teacher was bleeding and died after a while. Thus, Klibold and Harris have killed 13 people. The list of the dead appeared in the media a few hours after the tragedy.

Friends return to the dining room

The archers went down to the dining room, where unmanned bombs were still stored. Eyewitnesses remembered that even in the library one of the friends said that they would blow up the school anyway. Apparently, they went to the dining room to finally set in motion the explosives stored there. In the room there were CCTV cameras that recorded the guys in the last minutes of their lives. Comrades puzzled over how to blow bombs. With them they had Molotov's cocktail, which was produced in the garage during preparation for the attack on the school.

Harris threw the bottle into the place where the bombs were stored. Friends hastily left the room, waiting for the explosion. He happened, but his power was not nearly as lethal as the schoolchildren had hoped. The surveillance camera recorded the moment when a fire started in the dining room, which arose after the fireball burst from the bomb.

Suicide of Harris and Klibold

Meanwhile, on the street was organized the evacuation of students who were injured before the arrows were in the building. The police developed an action plan. Spetsnaz arrived at the scene. The situation was deepened by the fact that no one knew the exact number of attackers on the school. Initially, the police believed that they were dealing with an organized terrorist attack, in which a dozen people took part.

When the friends left the cafeteria, they again went to the top floor. From there, the last exchange of fire began with the policemen on the street. Friends were firing until they had almost no bullets left. Then the shooting at the US Columbia school was over, Hariss and Klibold went to the next room where they committed suicide.

The work of sappers and special forces

After the noise in the school ceased, the police still decided to storm. Special forces and sappers were sent there. The latter took up the library, where there were a few unworked bombs. They had to be rendered harmless in the first place, since they prevented the evacuation of the wounded and the carrying out of corpses. Soon sappers were informed that explosives are also stored in a car of teenagers. They also got rid of them, and no one else suffered. It turned out that the archers took with them not all of their ammunition. In the car they found explosives and cartridges.

However, when SWAT was in the building, it became clear that the arrows were already over. Their bodies were found side by side in a burning room on the top floor. Apparently, Eric Harris left Molotov's cocktail, which crashed and provoked a fire. This was evidenced by a smoke detector signal, triggered a minute after the death of adolescents. Suicides fired in the mouth and temple. Death for them came instantly.

The meaning of the tragedy

Together with the names of the shooters, the death toll list includes 15 people. In memory of the victims in the city built a memorial complex. At the time when shooting at the Columbine school just happened, it was the third most casualty in the history of the United States. It's about massacres in educational institutions. However, it was this incident in the state of Colorado that became world famous.

The reason for this was the work of the then media. Soon around the school were dozens of reporters of various television channels and newspapers. The tragedy evoked a response in the international community. It was the journalists who drew the attention of every American to what had happened in the ordinary provincial school. The society demanded the results of the investigation of the responsible bodies.

Since that April day, the whole world knew that there was a Columbian school. 1999 remained in the mass consciousness associated with this tragedy. The word "Columbine" became winged. Unfortunately, similar cases of shooting in US educational institutions, including schools and universities, continue to be repeated.

In 2007, a similar tragedy occurred at the Virgin Polytechnic Institute, when 33 people died. A few years later, shooting was heard in the elementary school "Sandy Hook". In it, 28 people died.

Investigation of what happened

When the police became aware of the names of the shooters, investigators immediately rushed into their homes. They feared that important evidence would be destroyed. That did not happen. The investigation continued until January 2000, when the public was informed of the details of the incident.

Until that moment, various conspiracy versions of what happened happened in the United States. For example, adolescents were considered religious fanatics who staged a massacre at Columbine School. 1999 was generally full of scandals associated with various totalitarian sects.

Public scandal

After it became clear the details of the life of two shooters from Colorado, there were several media scandals. The investigators found Harris's diaries, where he described in detail his impressions of the computer game Doom. In this shooter you need to shoot at numerous monsters. Many Americans accused the game of propaganda of violence.

In addition, the public criticized several groups that were listening to teens. The musicians Rammstein from Germany were subjected to special harassment. They were known for their provocative entourage on stage. In addition, the lyrics of their songs often touched upon the theme of violence, hatred and intolerance. The members of the group rejected all accusations and condemned the shooters. A similar campaign was conducted against Marilyn Manson. This American singer noted that he had prepared a special publication in the press, in which he talked about the causes of the tragedy. In addition, the musician wrote two songs dedicated to what happened at Columbine School.

The debate about the sale of firearms became acute. After the tragedy, several states introduced laws prohibiting or restricting such trade. American legislation has a number of features. General federal norms in such matters do not apply. Each state subject decides in its own way, to allow or prohibit the sale of weapons. The same rules apply to the regulation of the death penalty, and so on.