Stephen King on Columbine8.30.10I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing - his memoirs on what made him the successful author he is. I've found a couple of interesting sections that I thought I'd share. "At the time we're stuck in it... high school seems the most serious business in the world to just about all of us. It's not until the 2nd or 3rd class reunion that we start realizing how absurd the whole thing was." *** "I never liked [the character] Carrie, that female version of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. But through Sondra and Dodie [two bullied girls he went to high school with] I came at last to understand her a little. I pitied her and I pitied her classmates as well,because I had been one of them once upon a time." Carrie, if you're not familiar with it, was written in 1974 and was about a teen girl who was the subject of much abuse and ridicule both at home and especially at school. Toward the end (spoiler alert) she goes to the prom with a boy who's pretending to be interested in her. She is crowned homecoming queen. It's all one big elaborate plan on the part of the teens who've been bullying her all along... They get her up on stage for her cerermonial crowning and they dump pig blood all over her. Every teen in the gym laughs at her, including her "date". Pushed over the edge, Carrie throws a hell of a psychic fit, destroying the school and injuring/killing just about everyone who every gave her grief. I've been a King fan since I was a tween, first of his books and later, his films. I read Carrie and saw both incarnations of the film. Before reading the above, though, I'd never really thought about it in relation to Columbine. Now the parallel's painfully obvious. It also reinforces to me something I've thought all along: Everyone who has ever been to school - regardless of country or culture - has been on some side of the same situation. Either they were a bully, someone who was bullied, or someone who stood by and watched as someone was being bullied. We all know what that world feels like. We are all Columbine. Back, mostly8.13.10I'm still recovering - septoplasty is no small operation! - but I'm starting to feel more myself again. Still having a little trouble breathing through my nose and I've been fighting with headaches but I'm only at 2.5 weeks healed. By the end of the full 6 weeks I expect to be feeling right as rain again. For now though it's still up and down; some days I'm feeling great and others I just want to stay on the couch as much as possible. |
More Off-time
7.25.10I will be offline again starting Wed. 28. I'll be offline for at least 2 weeks as I am having septoplasty and turbinate reduction surgery. Basically they're reshaping the inside of my nose so I can breathe normally. My septum and right sinus passages are all kinds of misshapen. It was interesting to see the CT scans. I now know what the inside of my head looks like.
Anyway the doctor said the first 2 weeks after the surgery will be "a nightmare" but that the entire healing time is about 6 weeks, if everything goes without complication. So I'm planning to sleep as much as I can through those first 2 weeks. I'm guessing I'll be back online around the mid-3 week mark but it really will depend on how soon I'm feeling like sitting up in front of a computer. As soon as I'm able I'll post an update. I definitely won't be mailing CDs between July 28 and August 23rd so please wait till after that time to donate if you're planning to.
Best of luck to all of you students who are returning to school around this time.
Summer Trip
6.26.10I will be largely offline and away from my computer from June 29 to July 19 and will be unable to ship archive CDs during that time. As of today all CDs already requested have been mailed. Any new requests that come in before Monday will be shipped Monday. Requests that come on or after Monday will be shipped when I return. Have a safe summer.
2-Time Copycat Foiled Again
6.8.10For the second time in 3 years, Christopher Franko (who just turned 18) has been stopped in the act of trying to copycat the Columbine shootings at his former high school. This time he's accused of conspiring with Dana Saltzman, 16, to kill the security guards outside the school then enter the school where they would shoot as many students as they could. When police arrived they planned to shoot it out with them before committing suicide a la Eric and Dylan. The pair tried to purchase guns at a sporting goods store but neither was 18 at the time. Franko intended to return today to buy them, since he had turned 18. Since the first threat he posed to the school, officials have kept him on their proverbial radar. Franko is being held without bail and is barred from contacting anyone associated with the school.
Read more here
Rare Video Footage
5.8.10I've added some links to the Video / Sound Archive. One of this site's regular readers tipped me off to the links which are here - news footage & interviews shortly after the shootings, including an interview with Tiffany Typher (Eric's date to the prom); here - news & interviews, this one including interviews with Dylan's aunt, uncle and the rabbi who presided over his funeral; and here - a quick video taken inside the Harris home while it was vacant.
4.20.10
It's coincidence that my mp3 player is playing some of the darkest songs right now - I have it on random play. Since I sat down to make this year's memorial image I've run through The Vines' cover of "Paint it Black", PWEI's "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" all the way to now: When I opened up this file to edit the text here and Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay" cycles on. Not a single one of the more upbeat songs is playing though there are plenty on there. I'm almost surprised something by KMFDM hasn't come on.
So anyway.. Here it is, 11 years later. Amazing how much has changed in that time, and how much hasn't. It's actually been so long that I'm now seeing emails from folks who were 4 and 5 when the shootings happened and have only now heard about the subject, either at school or because of some song they heard. In just a few short years there'll be people writing who weren't even born when it happened. Think about that for a moment, if you're old enough to remember the day it happened. Think about how much you've done since that day. Does it seem that long to you?
Stay safe, folks. And if you're thinking about doing something that might hurt yourself and/or other people, please go talk to someone who can help you steer clear of that choice. It won't be worth it if you pull it off. Either you'll be dead and unable to enjoy your 'success' or you'll be alive and more miserable than before. It isn't worth it. Really.
Update
4.12.10Another year. Wow. They roll by so fast, don't they? If they'd never gone through with their plans, the shooters and most of their victims would have been nearing their 30th birthdays. So much time to have missed out on...
I've tidied up some of the broken links on the site (thanks goes to those of you who've pointed some of them out to me) and got the Search feature up and running again. The service switched their billing procedures and I was forced to let the paid end of it lapse for a bit till the site took in some money to pay for a year's worth of service. We were going month-to-month at a much lower price monthly price but the good news is that this larger cost is only going to happen once a year rather than monthly so it'll be uninterrupted, ad-free service for a whole year. Cheers.
Littleton Middle School Shooting
2.24.10When I read the headline that there had been a school shooting in Colorado, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. "Not Columbine again!" I thought desperately.
No, not Columbine. Deer Creek Middle School. The shooter was once a student at the school but he's no kid. He's not even a teen. He's a 32-year-old man who never graduated high school. Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood, the shooter, is an unemployed ex-ranch hand with a criminal history that dates back to 1996 covering a range of crimes including assault, domestic violence and DUI. It's been reported that he may have a history of mental issues as well.
At this time Jefferson County has no motive for the shootings but they are praising a teacher at the middle school (which is less than three miles away from Columbine High School) with putting a quick end to the violence. Dr. David Benke, a math teacher at Deer Creek, was in the parking lot when the shooting began. After Eastwood injured two students Dr. Benke noticed the man having trouble with his hunting rifle and dove into action. Benke later told MSNBC.com that he wasn't sure if it was courage or stupidity that made him jump into the fray but he said that he knew that the shooter's moment of distraction was an opportunity that he had to take.
Benke tackled the shooter, who fired his weapon once more before Benke and bus driver Steve Potter were able to pin him to the ground. Benke credits school drills with his quick action - in the wake of the Columbine massacre, all of Denver's schools (and in fact most public schools in the USA now) have regular drills to prepare students and faculty in the event of such an attack.
Eastwood is in jail with bail set at $1 million cash. He is facing 2 counts of attempted murder. He said nothing during his hearing.
Alabama Professor-Gone-Shooter
2.16.10I know I'm weighing in a bit late on this subject but recovery from surgery and switching to a new computer have me a bit behind the times. Still, I felt compelled to mention this incident because it's just so weird. The shooter herself defies what we have come to know as the archetype for a school gunman: She's a 44 year old woman, a college professor who others described as incredibly smart and terribly geeky. She opened fire on her colleagues during a biology department meeting where her tenure was up for consideration.
If this wasn't unusual enough, when the layers of history are peeled back we see someone who, in 1993, was investigating as a suspect in a matter where someone sent a bomb to someone Bishop worked with. Before that she shot and killed her brother in December 1986. Amy was born in April 1965. That would have made her 21 when she killed her brother. According to Amy, she'd had an argument with her dad and she went to her parents' bedroom, got a 12-gauge shotgun there and loaded it. The gun went off in the bedroom then she went downstairs to the kitchen where her 18-year-old brother and her mother were. It's reported she "accidentally shot her brother" right in front of her mother before running out of the house, still carrying the shotgun. However, when police questioned the family several days after the shooting, there were discrepancies in their accounts. Her mom said Amy asked her to help her unload the gun and it discharged. Amy, however, told police she'd asked her brother for help and shot him when she turned around suddenly and accidentally fired on him. The case was deemed an accident and closed.
The current police chief in Braintree, Mass, where Amy and her family lived, worked in the department during the investigation and criticizes it. Chief Paul Frazier believes Bishop got in a fight with her brother, her not dad. Interestingly enough, the case file has been missing since 1988. The 1993 probe never led to charges against Bishop but, sandwiched between current events and prior ones, it's not hard to believe she might have been responsible for it too. It seems a very thin coincidence anyway. I also found it interesting that, during the 1993 investigation, police found a story on Amy's computer about a woman who shot her brother and decided to devote her life to science as a form of redemption. Police are now asserting that they believe the most recent incident was sparked by Bishop's tenure situation, that the shootings were an act of revenge when her tenure was denied.
If that's true, then Bishop already had reason to believe she wasn't going to get tenured as she had the gun at the very meeting where her tenure was being discussed. The woman she killed, one of 3 victims who were murdered, had spoken about Bishop to her husband before, describing her as eccentric and a professor who'd received complaints from students because Bishop couldn't explain complicated subject matter in layman's terms and gave tests on subject matter that she hadn't fully taught her students.
Families of the victims are now wondering how a woman with Amy Bishop's checkered past obtained a position at the college. I have to say I wondered the same thing when I read about her. Did they do a background check? Was the "accidental" shooting not seen because it had been labeled an accident? What about the bomb investigation? Did the school not hear anything about that from her former employer when they called for references? Or did they not call at all, trusting that Bishop's resumé was honest? Though only an idiot would ever put "suspect mail-bomber" on their credentials.
A day or two before the shootings her husband and she went to a shooting range. As far as he knew, she'd never been to one and she never told him why she had developed a sudden interest in target shooting. I'm wondering: Did he know her history with shooting her brother? If he did, it's my impression he might be a tiny bit concerned by her sudden interest. Self-preservation if nothing else, because she's admittedly so lousy with guns she accidentally killed someone blood-related to her. That's not someone I would want ever holding a firearm near me. The fact that she was investigated for an attempted bombing also seems like ample reason to at least ask her why she's taking up hobby shooting.
He knew she had a gun but doesn't know where she got it, he says. Again I'm just wondering about this. He finds out she has a weapon and never bothers asking her basic things like "Where'd you get it?" or "When did you get it?" or "Why did you get it?". Maybe I'm missing something but this just doesn't seem right. It seems a lot like Amy Bishop has had people covering up her random acts of violence all her life, in fact, up till this point where she can't be coverered.
Even still she's trying to hide behind denial. Her last words before she was taken in were: "It didn't happen. There's no way. They are still alive."
Source
Update
2.5.10Came through the surgery just fine, though I'm talking like I have a golf ball in my mouth and am restricted to a smushy-to-liquid diet. What's happening is this: Up till recently I had an adult tooth that was stuck in one of my sinuses that never came down. I'm also missing an adult tooth (congenital condition that's quite common). As such I never lost 2 of my baby teeth. Well, the adult tooth finally decided it wanted out and the baby teeth weren't letting it. This resulted it being impacted over the baby teeth and one of my adult front ones. Increasing pain and deformation of my bite led me to the point where I'm at now. They've extracted one of the baby teeth and cut away some bone to expose the buried tooth from the inside of my pallet. After that heals, they're going to chain it to some braces and straighten the whole mess out. The process is going to take about 2 years. If it weren't medically necessary you can bet I wouldn't be doing it. The antibiotics are making me sick so I'm going to find out if I really need to keep taking them. Vomiting 14 times a day is not how I want to recuperate.
Anyway, I'm still not up for sitting at the computer for very long so I will be slow getting back to email. Please be patient. I do have someone who can run CDs to the post for me so those'll get off in a timely manner. I'll be back on the email wagon once I can eat something and keep it down for more than a half hour. Thanks for the well-wishes.
2.1.10
I will be undergoing oral surgery tomorrow. It's a Phase IV difficulty, which means it's really tricky for the surgeon and orthodontist involved. Which basically translates into lots of pain for me. So for the next few days I will be offline, trying to sleep away the pain. I will post an update on Friday. I do not have any CDs left to ship: the last one headed off to Ireland today. If you wish to donate, please wait until after Friday's update. Thanks and take care of yourselves.
Welcome to 2010
Does it feel like the future yet? Or the "year we make contact"?Here's hoping we see a better year this year than the past couple.
Fort Hood Massacre
11.6.9Posted an update to a Virginia Tech site about the shootings at the Fort Hood military base.
Update: Columbine Report
10.23.9Got a local copy of the Columbine Report uploaded and linked, replacing the now-defunct site that used to be linked there.
Another Would-be Copycatter
10.21.9Monroe, New York, USA
A 15 year old boy has been taken into custody for plotting a Columbine-like attack on his school. His planned attack against the school he attended, Monroe-Woodbury High School, was dated for April 20th of next year. When police searched his home, they found 4 bottles of gasoline, a torch, a machete, 3 propane tanks, items that could be used as fuses and several other electronic devices. They also seized a black trench coat and 2 computers. The boy's parents say they had no idea he had amassed the arsenal. The boy told police he had been trying to acquire a military assault weapon that could hold as many rounds as possible. He also said that he had a lot of hatred toward his school and that he had been bullied at the school and told that he looked like Eric Harris.
The would-be mass-murderer is being charged as a juvenile and faces 2 felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Read more here.
O Magazine Publishes Susan Klebold's Essay Online
10.20.9O Magazine now has all 7 pages of Susan Klebold's essay about what happened April 20, 1999. It's a real heart-breaker but how could it be anything but? I really appreciate Oprah's putting this essay out for the world to read, free of charge. I only wish the Harrises would share their side of the situation. I know a lot of folks around the globe wish them well and would like to know how they're doing.
More on Sue Klebold's Oprah Essay
10.13.9More on the pending November issue of O Magazine... Columbine families are having a positive and receptive reaction to the essay Sue Klebold wrote. You can read some more excerpts from the essay at the magazine's website (article is here). You can also see a never-before-published photo of Sue and Dylan Klebold at Dylan's 5th birthday on that page. You can buy the magazine at newsstands now to see the whole story.
Susan Klebold Essay in "O" Magazine
10.11.9After turning down repeated requests for interviews over the years, Susan Klebold has written an essay for Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine. In it she describes the morning of April 20th, 1999, before her son Dylan left for school. She says she had no idea how sick and suicidal Dylan was until she read his journals after her son's death. Below is are excerpts from Sue's essay:
"Early on April 20, I was getting dressed for work when I heard Dylan bound down the stairs and open the front door. Wondering why he was in such a hurry when he could have slept another 20 minutes, I poked my head out of the bedroom. `Dyl?' All he said was `Bye.' The front door slammed, and his car sped down the driveway. His voice had sounded sharp. I figured he was mad because he'd had to get up early to give someone a lift to class. I had no idea that I had just heard his voice for the last time."
"For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the horror and anguish Dylan caused. I cannot look at a child in a grocery store or on the street without thinking about how my son's schoolmates spent the last moments of their lives. Dylan changed everything I believed about myself, about God, about family, and about love."
The essay will appear in November's issue of O. There are no plans for the Klebolds to appear on Oprah's show. You can read more about the essay here.
Bavaria School Shooting
9.21.9Ansbach, Bavaria
On Thursday, 17 September an 18-year-old launched an attack on his school armed with Molotov cocktails, knives and an ax. Shortly after classes started Thursday morning the teen (whose name is being withheld due to German privacy laws) entered an 11th grade classroom in the school where he threw Molotov cocktails and attacked the students with the ax. Several people were injured including a 15-year-old female who was hit in the head with an ax and remains in critical condition.
What impressed me about this event was that 11 minutes after the attack began, the police were on scene following the activation of a smoke alarm when a student smelled smoke. The attacker was shot 5 times in the process of the police detaining him, resulting in his falling into a coma which he has just woken from. Pretty amazing timing - and efficiency on the parts of the police.
Read more about this event here.
Would-be Copycat Columbine Shooters
9.3.9Denton, Greater Manchester
Two teens are currently standing trial for planning to copycat the Columbine shootings at their own school. Matthew Swift (18) and Ross McKnight (16) of Denton, Greater Manchester are facing charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. According to journals belonging to the would-be shooters, they planned to blow up Crown Point North shopping center and then assault Audenshaw School where McKnight was a student and Swift had attended school. They were arrested in March after a female friend of Swift's reported a phone conversation she had with him where, while drunk, he told her of his and McKnight's plans for April 20, 2009. You can read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8233964.stm
Alvaro Castillo Trial
8.13.9School shooter Alvaro Castillo is standing trial is standing trial for shooting his father to death and then driving to his former high school, Orange High, with a horde of weapons where he opened fire on August 30, 2006. Two people were injured before a school faculty member convinced Castillo to put down his gun. Castillo has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On Tuesday 11, 2009 his mother testified at Alvaro's trial, saying that her son was so meek he couldn't even stand up to his dad when his mother was being abused in front of him. She also testified that she'd called her son a coward for letting his younger sister intervene instead. Alvaro's mother described his father as domineering, controling and abusive both verbally and physically toward the family.
Around the age of 15 Alvaro became obsessed with death and suicide, according to his mother and sister. He was particularly fascinated with the Columbine shootings and even visited Columbine High with his mother at one point. Castillo made a failed attempt at suicide on the 7th anniversary of the Columbine shootings after which he started spending a lot of time alone in his bedroom, making secret journals and videos about his obsessions and plans to copycat the shootings of April 20, 1999.
Alvaro's sister said that their mother had found a gun in her brother's room but they allowed him to keep his weapons so long as he had no ammunition. Castillo's mother said the teen would often sleep with his shotgun like it was a teddy bear. He was put on medication for depression but his mother said the drugs seemed to worsen his condition; he told her once that he was feeling nothing at all - that he was losing his feelings.
The trial is currently ongoing. For more about this highly messed-up story, see here.
Back again
8.1.9I'm back. CDs have been mailed. Updates forthcoming as I get life back in order at home. Weird how fast things fall apart in just two weeks.
Summer migration
7.13.9I will be traveling from 7-15 to 7-30. If any contributors donate between those dates, they can expect their CDs to ship between 7-31 and 8-1. Me, I'll be passing through some old ghost towns and spending a night in a historic "haunted" hotel. Should be an interesting trip.
Mark Taylor Update
7.11.9A video update on Mark Taylor. If you have trouble viewing the embedded video, try watching it at YouTube.
Iran Condemnation
6.21.9In the strongest message yet from the U.S. government, the House voted 405-1 to condemn Tehran's crackdown on protest rallies and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications. The Senate followed suit later in the day. (source)
405-1. There's always got to be one devil's advocate in the crowd.
I never thought much of Twitter. I have an account (here if you're curious) but haven't done much with it. This place is my blog so I don't really need things like Twitter apart as a road sign to point to this place. But hearing about how it's been so helpful in getting info out about what's happening in Iran, I must admit I look at it with new respect. Apparently the Iranian government can't successfully block Twitter, tweets or reading, since you can access it without having to go to the website. Folks can read/write from several 3rd party websites, through browser plug-ins and even through cellphone texting. The people there will not be silenced and for that I give props to Twitter. Tweet on.
Still working on the Virginia Tech website. Check there for the latest about development there.
Dylan's Journal
5.28.9A reader pointed out one of Dylan's journal pages got left out. I've tucked it back into order and while I had the Columbine Documents out I triple-checked what was already posted and found a few wording errors - mostly words I hadn't been able to identify before that I was able to decipher this time. A couple of the phrases that were fixed have new meaning so if you've already read them, I suggest reading them again. The entry that got skipped is pretty intense. Worth reading through to see it in context. For those who've donated in the past who received CDs with the old version of the journal and missing page, I've put Dylan's updated journal into a zip file that you can download here.
In other news, I'm still working on the Virginia Tech site. There's still not much there to look at yet but I have moved the site to its own host now and am quickly pulling together info to get it up and running. It won't be nearly as thorough as this site for a while to come yet... As Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was this website. Eventually it'll get there though.
Lost in Translation
5.12.9I have discovered that the Babel Fish translator code doesn't like this main page. I tried taking out competing code but that didn't fix it so for now I've removed the translator box from the sidebar. It does seem to work properly on the sub-pages so I've left it up there. I'll sort out the main page issue later, after I've gotten more done on the Virginia Tech site.
Email: I have mostly caught up now - I'm just a few days behind so if you emailed me a while back and I haven't gotten back to you, feel free to write again.
V-Tech Update
5.8.9As promised, I've started digging into getting the Virginia Tech info site up and running. Right now all I've had time to do is make a basic layout. This isn't necessarily how it will end up looking when it's finished but it's a good place to start for now. More coming as I get the time.
In other news, I just heard about the death of Johanna Justin-Jinich, a junior at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Apparently the man accused of shooting her to death (Stephen Morgan, age 29) allegedly had a composition book in which he'd written things like: "Kill Johanna. She must Die.". In the book he also talks about "seeing all of the beautiful and smart people at wes" and "I think it okay to kill Jews and go on killing spree at this school". The composition book was found in a computer bag in the basement of Broad Street Books, along with a laptop computer that listed Morgan as its admin. Johanna Justin-Jinich was shot in the same bookstore. She was Jewish. She also had filed a harassment complaint against Morgan in 2007 when they were taking the same summer course at New York University. When he was arrested, Stephen Morgan gave police a Colorado address. The mayor of Middletown suggested the connection between the two people may "go back to Colorado" but no further details were given.
More at CNN
Update
4.28.9Almost finished with catching up on email. If you have written and haven't heard back from me yet, you should by the end of tomorrow. If you still haven't received a reply by Friday please write again as your email may have gotten lost in the pile.
Update
4.25.9On April 20, 2009 this site saw over 61,000 different people stop by to remember Columbine. So far this month, the total of unique individuals to have visited (this doesn't count repeat visits) is over 160,000. The site has been visited over 4,700,000 times in April alone. I just have to say: Thank you, everyone, for remembering Columbine this year. I'm glad I could help you in your quest for information.
On another subject, I've been getting quite a bit of email about Dave Cullen's new book "Columbine"
. My copy just arrived yesterday so I haven't had time to read it yet but it's definitely on my to-do list. It's a pretty dense book so it'll likely take me a bit to read it all. When I have I'd be happy to discuss it with you. I'll post here when I do get finished. I'd like to congratulate Dave on getting his book written and published, and to thank him for including a link to this site in his bibliography.April 20, 2009
Here it is 10 years later. I'd like to say something profound, to try and capture what I'm feeling and what I've experienced these past years but it would take far too long. Let me just say thank you to everyone who has bothered to stop and think about what happened 10 years ago today. And thank you everyone around the world for your emails and for sharing your life experiences with me. Thanks, everyone who's contacted me who was there that day or who know people who were. Thanks to all you reporters, armchair detectives, teachers, law enforcement, parents, students... thanks, everyone, for showing me just how accurate the words "We Are Columbine" really are.April 20, 1999 - roughly 30 minutes before the shooting begins
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold record their last home video. In it, they are in the family room of the Harris home. Eric is filming Dylan, who is wearing a black baseball cap backward, exposing a "B" embroidered in white - the Boston Red Sox logo. He's wearing am untucked plaid shir and black BDUs (military-style pants) tucked into military-style boots. There are several duffel bags on the floor.Eric: "Say it now."
Dylan: "Hey mom. Gotta go. It's about a half an hour before our little judgment day. I just wanted to apologize to you guys for any crap this might instigate as far as (inaudible) or something. Just know I'm going to a better place. I didn't like life too much and I know I'll be happy wherever the fuck I go. So I'm gone. Good-bye. Reb..."
Dylan takes the camera then and begins filming Eric. Eric's also wearing a plaid shirt and he has on a white t-shirt on underneath.
Eric: "Yea... Everyone I love, I'm really sorry about all this. I know my mom and dad will be just like.. just fucking shocked beyond belief. I'm sorry, all right. I can't help it."
Dylan: (interrupts) "We did what we had to do."
Eric: "Morris, Nate, if you guys live, I want you guys to have whatever you want from my room and the computer room."
Dylan adds that they can have his things as well.
Eric: "Susan, sorry. Under different circumstances it would've been a lot different. I want you to have that fly CD."
Eric: (eventually) "That's it. Sorry. Goodbye."
Dylan: (sticks his face in the camera) "Goodbye." The tape ends with a brief glimpse of a sign on the wall of Eric's bedroom. It's the letters "CHS" along with a drawing of a bomb with a lit fuse and, written in bold black letters, the word "clue".
April 20, 1999 - early
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold skipped their first class of the day: bowling, which usually ran from 6 AM to 7:15 AM. It's likely they missed their 2nd period class as well, considering Eric Harris was caught on tape at 7:56 AM making a purchase at a convenience store. He and Dylan also skipped 3rd period, which was unusual since they were having a test in that class that day. The last pages of Dylan's journal are filled with quick notes regarding their plans of attack. Dylan and Eric also missed 4th hour. Police now know they were busy gearing up and making last minute preparations for what would soon happen at Columbine High.***
I went to feed my kids' fish this morning and it was dead. Why today, of all days?
10th Year Video Tribute
Due to the massive amount of bandwidth, the 10th year tribute video has run its online course. You can still see it on the CD-ROMs I send to folks who donate to help cover the costs of the website.April 19, 1999
During 3rd hour, around 9:30 AM, Eric and Dylan made a video with friends Eric Jackson and Dustin Gorton. In the Columbine Report, this is described as a "looking video assignment" and a set up video. It was to be used on the school's morning in-house television broadcast and featured the foursome driving up to Burger King in Gorton's 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle. Dylan was sitting in the front passenger seat, Dustin was driving, Eric Harris was a passenger in the back seat. They bought their breakfast and drove to Columbine's student parking lot where they ate and ended the video.Eric and Dylan skipped creative writing class (2nd to last class of the day) with Brooks Brown and Becca Hines. Brooks and Becca went on to McDonald's where Dylan and Eric were to meet up with them after a side-trip to Eric's house. Eric and Dylan didn't return to school that day, skipping their last class, psychology, as well. A man hanging wallpaper next door said he heard glass breaking and other explosive sounds from the Harris garage that day.
Dylan wrote about 8 pages in his notebook, the first of which read: "About 26.5 hours from now the judgement will begin. Difficult but not impossible, necessary, nervewracking and fun. What fun is life without a little death? It's interesting, when I'm in my human form, knowing I'm going to die. Everything has a touch of triviality to it." His last journal entry read: Walk in, set bombs at 11:09, for 11:17 Leave, set car bombs. Drive to Clemete [sic] Park. Gear up. Get back by 11:15 Park cars. set car bombs for 11:18 get out, go to outside hill, wait. When first bombs go off, attack. have fun!
Eric asked Mark Manes to buy ammunition for him, though he - Harris - was old enough to purchase it himself. Mark bought 100 rounds from a local Kmart for $25 and gave it to Eric later that night. When Mark asked Eric if he was going to use the ammo to go target shooting that night Eric told him no; that he needed it for the next day.
***
4.19.9
I am still a bit behind in my email so if you've written and haven't received a response yet, please be patient. I will get to you I promise. Tomorrow morning I'll be posting a tribute video here, commemorating the 10th year. Also as a reminder: The site will be blacked out starting at 11:15 AM on the 20th and lasting until 12:05 PM. Please bookmark a page other than the main one if you wish to access the website during that time.
April 17, 1999
Debbie Wilde and her husband, who lived 2 doors down from the Harrises, noticed there were sounds of breaking glass and power saws from the garage over the weekend. They noticed Dylan's BMW parked in front of Eric's house on Saturday the 17th, when the noises were loudest. Police now know that the teens were making shrapnel for the pipe bombs they would use on Tuesday.The 17th was Columbine's prom night. Posters around the school announced the prom: "It's coming! 4/17/99" On several posters the number '17' had been crossed out and replaced with a '20'. Twelve kids, including Dylan Klebold and Nate Dykeman, went by limosine together to the prom. Dylan's date for the night was Robyn Anderson, who boasted to another male friend shortly before the prom: "I convinced my friend Dylan, who hates dances, jocks and has never had a date let alone a girlfriend to go with me! I am either really cute or just really persuasive!"
Nate said Dylan's attitude that night was normal, like any guy going to his senior prom's attitude might be. Everything went "perfect" -- friends described Dylan as seeming very upbeat and was making plans to stay in touch with folks after leaving for college. Nate said that Dylan talked happily about a positive future in Arizona attending college; that he sounded like that was what he really planned to do with his life.
Rachel Scott - who would just days later become a victim in the shootings - attended the prom with Nick Baumgart.
Eric Harris didn't have a date that night, though not for lack of trying. People who knew him said he asked a few different girls, all of whom turned him down. He ended up making plans with Susan DeWitt (a girl he'd talked to the night before at Blackjack Pizza). She went to his house where they watched movies. Eric invited her to go to the after-prom party but she declined. She went home and Eric met his friends at the party, still alone.
April 16, 1999
Staff Sergeant Gonzales left a message on voicemail at the Harris residence for Eric Harris to call him but never received a call back. Gonzales said that he had no further contact with Harris and was therefore unable to inform him that he would not be eligible for entry into the Marines.April 15, 1999
Staff Sergeant Mark Gonzales met Eric Harris and his father at the Harris residence. During a casual conversation between Gonzales and Dwayne Harris about Eric's future with the military Eric's mother came downstairs and joined the conversation. She asked if Eric would still be eligible if he were taking an anti-depressant. She then showed the Staff Sergeant one of Eric's prescription bottles and he copied down the name of the drug prescribed: Luvox®. Gonzales said that he would check on the eligibility status and would call them back.Dylan Klebold wrote an entry in his personal journal musing on the assault that would occur in five days.
***
4.15.9
I'm feeling better though still not 100%. I've posted several updates below, to catch up on what I would've posted had I not been sick. I'm working through backlogged email today so if you've written recently, you should have a response soon. All donation gifts were mailed this week on Monday and Tuesday, to avoid the tax rush on the post office but due to extra load the post office packages may be delayed a few days.
In regards to the upcoming 10th "anniversary" of the Columbine tragedy, I have a video montage tribute in the works. On April 20th this year the main page of this website will be temporarily altered in memory of those who died. The change will be in effect from starting at 11:15 AM (when the massacre began) and will last until 12:05 PM (when the last shots were fired). All other pages of the site will still appear as normal so if you want to access the full site during that time you'll want to bookmark a page ahead of time as no internal links will be posted on the main page at that time. The website will return to its normal state after the time of observance is done.
April 14, 1999
Staff Sergeant Mark Gonzales met Eric at Blackjack Pizza to confirm his appointment for the home visit.April 11, 1999
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made "Reb's Tape" - one of the Basement Tapes marked evidence item #298. In it they discussed their plans and how the event would impact their parents and the people who cared about them. While they expressed regret for the trouble it would cause their families they appear dedicated to and even proud of their "two man war against everyone else".Greek student shoots 3, kills self
4.10.9Athens, Greece
In a note Dimitris Tachmanidis, 19, said that he was tired of being mocked by fellow students at Hellenic Manpower Organisation's (OAED) vocational school. Friday morning he walked into the school he attended armed with two pistols. He headed for the classrooms but ran into another student on the stairs and fired shots at the 19-year-old. The gunman turned to leave at that time but was confronted by 2 men who worked in a factory nearby. He shot at the two men before running across the road and shooting himself in the head. He died during medical treatment later.
More info
Dove Creek High School shooting plan foiled
4.9.9New Mexico, USA
Two teens were arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft. One, 16 years old, planned to shoot the principal of Dove Creek High School in Colorado where the teen attended classes. He also planned to shoot the undersheriff and use that man's weapons to continue the shooting spree. Deputies confiscated 7 rifles, shotguns, and an M1 carbine from the 16-year-old's home as well as 3 more weapons when the teens were arrested. The other teen, 19-year-old Cody Barr, is the one who disclosed information about the plot. The teens were wanted in Colorado on warrants for 3 felony burglaries, including a burglary at the home of the 16-year-old's grandparent where they stole thousands of dollars and 10 weapons. The 16 year old had showed up last fall at his school wearing a trenchcoat and white face paint. He wasn't allowed on campus at the time and didn't return after.
More info
April 8, 1999
Custodian Jay Gallentine arrived at Columbine just before 5 AM and found the locks of all the doors leading into the high school glued shut. Gallentine heard voices and footsteps on the roof, then silence. He called the police and set to replacing the locks. Inspection of the roof found someone had spelled the word 'seniors' in duct tape across the large glass skylight. Later that day, Jefferson County sheriff's deputy Neil Gardner (resource officer assigned to Columbine who would exchange fire with the shooters on April 20) reviewed video taken that morning by the school's outside security cameras. The tape showed two male suspects in dark clothing, including gloves and masks or hoods of some kind but they were never identified. However, Eric mentioned on his website that he and Dylan epoxied locks in their neighborhood as a prank and Brooks Brown says something similar in his book, No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine
.April 5, 1999
Eric Harris showed up for his scheduled Marine Corp test on time, driving a car with a Rammstein sticker in the back window. He was wearing black pants, black combat boots, and a black t-shirt with the word "Rammstein" on the front. He scored average on the initial screening test. At the end of the interview he told the recruiting officer that he wanted to think about enlisting and that he also wished to talk the matter over with his parents.***
4.6.9
I have been diagnosed with an extreme pulmonary infection bordering on bilateral pneumonia. Basically this means I'm dead-dog sick. I'm receiving medical treatment and will know more on Monday after I talk to the doctor again. I have someone taking care of shipping donation gifts Monday so if you've contributed over the weekend, your gift will be shipping then. Updates to the website will be entirely dependent on my health until I kick this stupid infection. Talk about a rotten couple of months.
April 3, 1999
Eric writes his last handwritten diary entry. The content is posted below, unedited.
Months have passed. Its the first Friday night in the final month. much shit has happened. Vodka has a Tec 9, we test fired all of our babies, we have 6 time clocks ready, 39 crickets, 24 pipe bombs, and the napalm is under construction. Right now I'm trying to get fucked and trying to finish off these time bombs. NBK came quick. why the fuck cant I get any? I mean, I'm nice and considerate and all that shit, but nooooo. I think I try to hard. but I kinda need to considering NBK is closing in. The amount of dramatic irony and foreshadowing is fucking amazing. Everything I see and I hear I incorporate into NBK somehow. Either bombs, clocks, guns, napalm, killing people, any and everything finds some tie to it. feels like a Goddamn movie sometimes. I wanna try to put some mines and trip bombs around this town too maybe. Get a few extra flags on the scoreboard. I hate you people for leaving me out of so many fun things. And no don't fucking say, "well thats your fault" because it isnt, you people had my phone #, and I asked and all, but no. no no no dont let the weird looking Eric KID come along, ohh fucking nooo.
4/3/99
4/3/99
April 2, 1999
Eric Harris spoke with Staff Sergeant Mark Gonzales about joining the Marines. During the interview Eric indicated he's thought about college but that he was more interested the Marine Corps. After sharing some personal details with the Staff Sergeant (including his plans after graduation and telling him that he had never done drugs), Eric was scheduled for further interview and testing.Virginia Tech website
4.1.9I don't do April Fool's so don't worry; this isn't a joke. I've secured a domain and space for the much-asked-for site about the Virginia Tech shootings. You will find it at aVirginiaTechSite.com. I won't be putting full attention into it until after the 10th April 20 is over but check back after that for updates.
Update
3.31.9Been busy. I found a few deeply nested pages that I'd missed when I converted the site and fixed those. If you see any pages that don't display right please email me with the URL and I'll fix it. I've also added a bumper sticker to the list of gifts you can choose if you contribute to this website. I plan to add a t-shirt as well in the next few days, commemorating the 10th year following the tragedy at Columbine High School. More info coming soon.
Also: Guestbook. It was brought to my attention that it was full. In the past it used to auto-delete the oldest entries but I guess they've changed that. I've deleted the oldest ones so you can post to the guestbook again. Sorry for not catching that sooner, folks.
March 25, 1999
The whole Klebold family (Dylan, his brother Byron, and their parents) drove to Tucson to visit the University of Arizona where they paid a deposit for what was supposed to have been Dylan's dorm room when he graduated from Columbine High in April. His family later said that he genuinely seemed to be looking forward to college life. Friends said that he had been talking about going to U of A just a week before the shootings.3.26.9
Things have settled here in the wake of my friend's passing. The funeral was nice, if heart-breaking. I'm getting caught up on email now. I received an email from the community theater director at Silver Spring Stage in Silver Spring, MD, USA. They'll be performing the play Columbinus throughout April this year. If you would like more information about the performances or the play, please check out the theater's website for Columbinus.
March 15, 18 1999
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold record one of the "Basement Tapes" in which they vent their anger at the world and at specific people. They gloat about their upcoming plans and how clever they were in obtaining the gear they needed to carry out their "Mission". They explain their reasons, condemn victims by name, thank accomplices and apologize to their families and friends. They laugh off the Brady bill; all of their guns were obtained illegally. In the video they give a tour of "Reb's room" and the illegal items they've collected there. They say they want to "kick-start a revolution". They detail out their plans to blow up the school and discuss the munitions they plan to use. They speculate on people's reactions to what they intend to do.This video tape, evidence item #265, has not been released to the public. It has been viewed by an employee at Time magazine and the families of the victims. While there has been much debate on whether the tape should be released, at this time it is still being withheld by the courts, possibly for another 17 years or so. You can see a partial transcript of this video here. It's the closest you'll likely come to knowing what was on the tape until such a time as the court decides to release the Basement Tapes.
Grim Day
3.11.9By now most of you already know about the Alabama shooting spree from yesterday, and you likely know as well about the tragic shooting today in Winnenden, in Germany. I plan to provide more details at a later point and my sympathies go out to the individuals involved who are picking up the pieces. Today though I got word that someone I've known for over 14 years has died from an overdose. He was like family and I'm going to be busy helping with the funeral arrangements the next few days. He was 31 years old. Addiction is an ugly, ugly thing.
Rest in peace, Sam. And everyone else who died today.
Reunion
3.10.9I was contacted a bit ago by writer/director Adam Kargman who was kind enough to share his short film, Reunion, with me. You can see a trailer for it below. The movie is not yet publicly available but the person who sent me a copy said he's willing to do the same for anyone who wants to email him at info@roundhaygarden.com. You can read more about the film here and at the filmmaker's website.
I found the film very touching; an interesting look at what might have been -- and what likely was lost on April 20th, 1999. It was difficult at times for me to watch because of how plausible it seemed. The end, of course, was the hardest. It's very much worth a watch, especially since it runs only about 12 minutes. For the amount of time it takes to watch, it really packs a big emotional punch.
March 6, 1999
Saturday, March 6th. Armed with a video camera, two sawed-off shotguns, a pistol, an automatic rifle and a TEC-9, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold headed off to Rampart Range dressed in their trenchcoats and wearing their baseball caps backward. They, together with Mark Manes (who sold them the TEC-9) and Mark's friend Jessica Miklich, took turns firing the the weapons at trees and bowling pins, joking as they hit and missed their targets. For Eric and Dylan, it was practice with a purpose. They were imagining what the bullets would look like in someone's brain. They were preparing for their final "Mission" - the massacre at Columbine.Photos and excerpts from the Rampart Range video
New Email
2.24.9The site now has a new dedicated email address. I've already made the changes to the site so that when you click the email link it'll send you to the new one. For those who have my old email address saved, please update it with the new one: acolumbinesite @ gmail . com (remove the spaces). I will be checking the old address periodically but for the fastest response, use the new one.
Update
2.10.9The site search feature seen on every page is a paid service. Up until this month the place that hosts it was charging per month. They've switched over to a by-the-year-only service, which costs quite a bit more but only has to be paid once a year. Thanks to several kind readers who generously sent in contributions during this tough economic time, the service has been paid for through next year. What's more, all the tacky ads and branding are gone for good as well. All you'll see when you do a search is the relevant results this site hosts. Thank you very much to everyone who's sent in donations. It's greatly appreciated.
I've had several folks ask me what, if anything, is going on in Littleton when the 10th year strikes in April. I haven't heard too much about what's going on there this year. I know the folks behind the Columbine Memorial are hosting a get-together. You can find out more about it by clicking the link there. If you live in the area and know of anything, please let me know and I'll post it up here.
In other news, after countless requests I am beginning the slow process of putting together an information website dedicated to the Virginia Tech shooting. I've thought before about doing it but time is something I'm already short on. However, I have received a lot of emails about the prospect of my hosting such a site and it is an important and relevant subject that should have its own niche out there on the web. It will be slow going but it will be. I've already secured the web address: aVirginiaTechSite.com. If you have anything you'd like to contribute to the subject of the site, feel free to contact me at the email address on this site about it.
YouTube has gone on a crusade against videos related to school shootings after the BBC found videos hosted on the video portal that glorified the shooters and the violence they committed against their schoolmates. Since the BBC brought the matter to their attention, YouTube has stripped virtually everything to do with school shootings from their site, even the legitimate news clips and such. I haven't had videos on the site in over a year and after this, I never will. The video files I have that are too large to host from my site will be available on CD until I have the time and resources to find a way to host them. In an unrelated move, they've also figured out a way to disable audio for clips that have soundtracks that are copyrighted and used without permission. That's progress for you.
Welcome to 2009
1.4.9CDs have been shipped. Continental US residents should see them within the next 10 days. Overseas will be 2-6 weeks, depending on your location and local customs officials.
This year marks the 10th year following the Columbine High School massacre. Ten years. Hard to believe. Where were you ten years ago? What was your life like? How different is it now?
1000 spankings = 8 year old murderer?
12.18.8I will be visiting relatives out of state until the 1st. CD requests will be taken care of on my return. Have a safe and happy holiday.
11.30.8
Despite following it closely, I've refrained from posting anything about this case up till now because of how unusual it is and how many things we can't know due to court gag orders and such. Today however I read an article that put a bit more perspective on the case. The article was titled "Child vowed 1,000th spanking would be limit" and postulated that the 8 year old St Johns boy may have kept track of spankings in a ledger and might have vowed that the 1000th spanking he got would be his last. Now while the news says that he was given a spanking the day before the shootings over a missed class assignment, it also says that no such ledger was found in the evidence they took from the boy's house. Only a sheet of paper with spelling homework.. and blood on it.
What really snagged me though was what his grandmother told the police. Shortly after hearing that the 8 year old had confessed to the double murder, she was reported by an officer in attendance as saying in a loud, angry tone: "I knew this would happen. They were too hard on [the boy]! I knew [he] did it. He spent the night in my bed cuddling up to me. I had a feeling he did it. If any eight year old boy is capable of doing this, it's (him)." His grandfather was likewise unsurprised by the confession.
It would seem that this boy was being abused. It would also seem that his grandparents knew it and allowed it to continue. If the story about 1000 spankings is true, that would be 1000 that he'd kept track of. That wouldn't include all the ones that happened before he got upset enough to keep count, or how many times he was hit before he was old enough to count. If all of what little we've heard about this case is true, it's no wonder the kid hurt someone. The only surprise is that he did it when he was 8 and not when he was 18.
Violence breeds violence. Reap what you sow and all that. It's just really sad that at a mere 8 years old this kid's life is so screwed up. Just think what he'll be like in 10 years if he spends them growing up in juvenile hall. Someday this boy will be a man, one shaped by violence and fear and pain. What a life to look forward to.
Happy Haunting
10.31.8Happy Halloween! Be safe, eat candy and remember the people you've known who aren't alive to enjoy this holiday. That is what Halloween's really about, after all: The dead.
The links on the donation page are fixed now, btw. Sorry about that.
4 Suspects in University of Central Arkansas Shooting
10.27.8Conway, Arkansas, USA
Last night the University of Central Arkansas was in lockdown following the eruption of gunfire near Arkansas Hall. As of this posting, Arkansas police have 2 suspects in custody and are still searching for 2 more, which they say they have "good leads" on. The 4 suspects are not students at the university but are from the area. 2 of the people they shot have died, a 3rd - who is also not a student at the school - was injured. No motive has been established for the shootings -- police say it's unclear whether the shooters knew their victims and that the shootings appear to be random.
A little over 10 minutes after the shootings the school's automated system sent out e-mails to staff and students advising them to stay inside with the doors locked. The system was put into place shortly after the Virginia Tech shootings last year and was the first time the school used it.
CNN.com has the developing story.
Eric Harris' Journal
10.8.8As I was tidying I finally got around to organizing Eric's writing page. I moved all the writing links to the left navigation area (where the columbine flower is). Eventually I'll do Dylan's the same way. I also got the first 39 scans of Eric's journals posted, along with the typed (and therefore legible) transcripts of the same. Organization feels good.
Happy Halloween Month
10.6.8Halloween is my favorite holiday -- I prefer to celebrate the whole month rather than on just the last day. I heard someone on the radio call it Halloween Month the other day. It's nice to know other folks out there feel the same way as I do. I figure if the merchandisers can start promoting Christmas in August, then I can observe Halloween all through October. It's a worldwide holiday so I figure there's plenty to celebrate.
In site news, I discovered that Firefox doesn't show my site quite the way IE does. Since I use it a lot and, from the stats, so do the viewers who come here, I'm working to get things set up so that the site will display properly. It means lots of redundant code but in the end it'll all look better for it.
Kauhajoki school shooting
9.28.8Kauhajoki, Finland
This comes a little late as I only just heard of it today. On September 23, 2008, culinary student Matti Juhani Saari took a Walther P22 Target semi-automatic handgun to the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences where he shot and killed 10 people and injured several others before shooting himself in the head. He died a few hours later. This shooting occured two months before the first 'anniversary' of the tragic Jokela shooting in Finland last year and was more deadly.
This shooting was particularly heinous: After shooting several people in one exam room, he set the room on fire. One of his victims managed to make it out of the burning classroom before they died in the hallway. Saari also started several other fires during his rampage. One of his victims, a female, was shot in the head but after two operations was upgraded to "satisfactory condition". At least 10 other people were treated for minor injuries. All of the victims were thought to be classmates or in the same year as the shooter. Of the 10 that died, 8 were female students, 1 was a male student, and the last was a male staff member. It's believed that the male student had been a friend of Saari's.
Saari bought his weapon from the same gun shop as Pekka Eric Auvinen, the Jokela shooter who killed 8 people last year. Local authorities have said it's likely that Saari and Auvinen knew each other, perhaps from the internet. Saari told a friend of his that he had been bullied in secondary school. He called this same friend from the university shortly after the shootings, before he turned the gun on himself. He left behind hate-filled notes and videos on YouTube (posted under the username Wumpscut86), and was reported to have expressed admiration for school shootings in the USA. He had footage of the Columbine High shooting saved under his YouTube Favorites. His account has since been suspended
Ironically, Finnish police had searched Saari's apartment the day before the shootings (Monday 22) after they received an anonymous tip the previous Friday about the threatening videos Saari had posted. While they did find a .22 caliber pistol, he had a weapons permit and no prior criminal record, so they found no reason to arrest him.
You can read more here.
Dylan Klebold's Journal Posted
9.24.8It's taken a while but with the help of a couple of folks and after many, many hours of coding I've gotten Dylan Klebold's journal entries coded in HTML for ease of reading. The journal entries are typed, transcribed as accurately as possible, triple-checked and enhanced with images taken from the pages they appear on. You can see the actual pages in the Columbine Documents, pages 26385-26427.
Update: Brian Anderson
9.20.8A friend of Brian's (Dewayne Johnson) was kind enough to send me the following update about victim Brian Anderson, the boy who was trapped between the double glass doors with teacher Patti Nielson when Eric Harris opened fire on the entrance.
Being trapped in the library and shot in the chest, 26 yr old Brian Anderson has moved on with his life, now owning his own trucking company in the Littleton Colorado area. Brian says he still tries to make sense of that fateful day at Columbine High School. To this day he has not stepped one foot into any library nor does he like the sound of helicopters or fire alarms. Brian also lost his good friend and classmate "Corey Depooter" in the shooting at Columbine and said there are times when he thinks of him and all the fun times they had in school. Recently Brian said he would like to go back to Columbine and see the new library and there he hopes to find more closure. Brian still lives in the Jefferson County area. He would like to thank all those who pitched in with a helping hand during the whole ordeal at Columbine. Brian also states that there is one person that means a lot to him and will always have a place in his heart because in his eyes she is a HERO and that is teacher Patti Nielson.
Update
9.1.8Some of the Amazon ads at the tops of the subpages were causing Internet Explorer to crash for me. I don't know if anyone else has had this happen but if you have, you shouldn't be seeing it anymore as I've replaced them. Still working on the W3C compliance. Lots and lots of pages to convert but it's coming along pretty quickly, all things considered.
I have a friend in Baton Rouge who is without power, one of 800,000 in Louisiana by itself. My thoughts are with the folks who're in the hurricane zone. Let's all hope Hanna and Ike give the coast a huge miss.
Update
8.29.8I just finished expanding the section regarding the Injured Victims. Instead of one incredibly long page it's now broken into six different pages. I hope this will make it easier to load and read. Also, I'm sending out CDs today for those who donated after 8.26. I wanted to get this update done before I made the CDs so you'd have the new layout. You should see your CDs soon.
Aftermath
8.18.8The Aftermath pages are all updated now, code-compliant and what-not. I finally got around to moving the more recent info from 2006 and 2007 from this page to their respective pages in that section.
As promised...
8.16.8Dylan Klebold's page has been updated. More to come later.
Just another update
8.15.8Got Eric Harris' page straightened up and W3C compliant. I also fixed some dead links, moved the navigation strip and added some info that's located in other sections of the site but relevant to what's on that page. I'll be tackling Dylan's next. It's minor stuff, really, and I only mention this because the two pages look differently and I didn't want anyone thinking that something was wrong with the site.
More obvious update
8.13.8As you can see (if you've been here before), I've updated the main layout. A bit of trivia: The header image you see above is the first full-size header image this site has ever had in the 9 years it's been around. When I started this site I wanted the primary focus to be on the content. I saw a lot of Columbine-oriented sites in my time and never wanted to be one that had a lot of irrelevant graphics. The layout has always been very streamlined (I've heard some say "spartan" or "barren") and not just because of the reason named above. From 1999 to 2001 I was on a free host, which meant I had very little storage space and bandwidth. I wanted to devote the site's resources to the pictures that mattered so I set those up in internal galleries (that are still present) and skipped the bells and whistles.
Today, I have a very spacious website with a lot of bandwidth so in the interest of making the site a little less text-book, I plan to add content-specific images where appropriate as I continue to get the site up to W3C standards. Perhaps someday I'll be able to afford a site that can host all the video clips I have.
Update
8.8.8I updated the Movies, Books, and Films page. It looks spiffy now and I added a couple of things to it that somehow managed to get left off. I've still got some books to add so hold off mentioning them to me till I've posted another update. After that if you notice something's still missing, feel free to let me know what it is.
12 year old brings loaded gun to school
8.6.8Queen Creek, Arizona, USA
Just two weeks after the shootings at SMCC, a 12 year old boy was taken into custody after bringing a loaded gun to his school. After he showed the weapon to teachers and students, a teacher was able to take the gun from the boy. The boy told police he'd brought the weapon to school because another student was picking on him.The school was not evacuated and there were no shots fired. The boy, whose name has not been released on account of age, is being sent to a juvenile detention facility.
SMCC Shooting
7.24.8Phoenix, Arizona, USA
The police have released the name of the shooter, one Rodney Smith (22). Apparently he entered the computer lab around 4 PM and picked a fight with the 19 year old victim, with whom it seems he had a long-standing feud. After shooting the victim he then shot the other two, though it would seem they were random targets before the shooter left. The last two are in stable condition currently. The 19 year old male is still in critical condition.
You can read more details on this story here.
***
(earlier)
Right now police are on-scene at South Mountain Community College at the scene of a shooting that occurred around 4:00 PM local-time. It involves, at the latest report, 3 victims (ages 17 [male], 19 [male], 20 [female]). 2 are in very critical condition. All three were shot multiple times. The shooting occurred in the Tech Center next to the visitor parking lot. The news just said the the shooter is a man who is "well known on campus" and that the shooter's father is the person who turned him in. He is in custody.
Update: Patrick Ireland
6.12.8Still slowly improving the site behind-the-scenes. In the meantime I wanted to share so update information about victim Patrick Ireland. He's doing very well for himself these days. He's got a great career as financial rep for Northwestern Mutual and wife, Kacie. Pat also has a very friendly associate named Nicole who was kind enough to provide the site with this happy update on his life. Way to go, Pat!
Update
5.24.8Yes, I'm behind on email again. With the kids out of school for the summer, we're getting into our hot-months routine so I'll be a little slow for a bit longer. If you have an urgent matter, please email again and put the word "URGENT" in the title so I'll be sure to read it ASAP.
And please, don't email me asking me to send CD sets to you for free. I don't respond to those emails and here's why: The CDs are offered as an incentive to get folks to help me cover the cost of the site's bandwidth, web address, and hosting. The CDs cost me money to make and mail. To send them "free" is not free; it costs money. Asking me to send them to you is asking me to give you money out of my pocket and no... I won't do it. I can't afford it anymore than the next guy. The moneys collected from the CDs go directly back into the site when someone sends a donation but most of the time I'm paying for this place myself and it isn't cheap. Please enjoy what's available but don't ask me to pay you to read it. I won't answer.
4.20.99
Nine years. I actually had to count twice to be sure I wasn't mistaken but it really has been nine years. I get emails often now from teens who were in middle school when the shootings happened, from people telling me about how they were too young to have even heard about the shootings. Quite often these folks heard about Columbine in an off-handed form, such as hearing someone at school saying something about "going Columbine" or "pulling a Columbine" and, out of curiosity, hopped on the net and looked up "Columbine".
When I first set out to make this site an information repository, I thought about this group and the ones who would come afterward: The ones who were too young to have lived through the media storm. I wanted to be sure that, if they did come looking, there was at least one source out there for them to turn to where they could find an honest attempt at gathering the truth and the evidence together so that the event and its tragic outcome could be studied and learned from to the hopeful benefit of the future. The emails I've received have let me know that this work is indeed helpful to that end - for the younger generation and from all the living ones before who've written me. While I no longer have time to answer every email I receive I do appreciate them. Thank you.
LiveLeak Double Standard
4.11.8I think it's interesting that when Bhutto was assassinated, LiveLeak had multiple videos of her getting shot in the head, on the front page no less. I know because I went there and clicked on at least two at the time. But if you upload a video that features a man showing reporters around a fully renovated, shiny new Columbine High it gets rejected within 5 minutes of being posted. I guess they value bloody headshots above video footage of healing and hope. Go figure.
In case it wasn't obvious from the above comment, I will not be hosting videos through LiveLeak. My apologies for not being gorey enough for LiveLeak's high standards. Unfortunately this means that all the video footage will have to remain on the archive CDs till I can find someplace that also believes that Columbine is something that should be remembered.
Also: I've fractured my wrist so updates will be slow until it heals, unless something major happens between now and then. Which I really hope it won't.
Teen Beating Taped
4.9.8You've probably heard about this one already: 16 year old girl beaten by cheerleader classmates. The six girls beat her with the idea in mind of taping it and posting it to the internet. They were completely unremorseful when they were arrested, joking that they "might" miss cheerleading practice the next day (a week later they're still in custody). Not only do I find this sort of callous behavior idiotic (Oo. Big tough cheerleaders, attacking someone 6 on 1!) but I was also appalled at the fact that they beat the girl unconscious and when she woke up, started doing it again. Obviously they haven't read about the people who've died after being knocked unconscious in a fight. Or are such heartless bitches that they don't understand how killing someone's kid for fun can hurt the families and friends of that person as well as the person themselves.
All that aside, I was especially pissed off when the girl being beaten didn't try to defend herself. Or escape. I saw the video. She was standing right next to the front door with about 4 feet between her and the nearest person. Why didn't she try to leave? None of the girls attacked as a group; they were all taking turns while one held the camera. Yet whenever one hit her, she just covered her face and curled up. They weren't swinging like boxers. Or even like girls who'd been in a lot of fights. They were swinging like (forgive the sexism) girls. And yet the victim just stood there and took it. When they would stop to yell at her, she'd lower her arms in a "Whaddid I dooooo?" sort of way and cry at them. Again, no attempts to leave. And then a girl would start punching her and she'd curl up, still standing.
Did her parents give her no advice on how to handle things when shit gets stupid? I'm sorry but in today's world, you HAVE to tell your kids that it's okay to hit back if someone's attacking them. That reasoning with people who want to hurt you won't work. To LEAVE the scene if things get ugly. To make it home at all costs. To scream for help. To call 911. To do something pro-active to make sure you come out alive!
I do not endorse or support folks doing anything like what happened at Columbine. But there's a big difference between shooting up a school and defending yourself on private property when you're being attacked - regardless of why it's happening.
CNN video
Charlton Heston Dead at 84
4.6.8
Last night, well-known actor Charlton Heston passed away in his home. He was best known for his starring roles in movies like El Cid and The Ten Commandments. Though the cause of his death has not been released, it is known that Heston suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Heston was demonized in Michael Moore's fakeumentary Bowling for Columbine when that director used statements made by Heston at an NRA meeting in Denver out of context to support the opinions the film tries to pound home. The most memorable: "..from my cold dead hands." (the statement which the picture above goes to).
Rest in peace, Mr Heston.
Minor Update
4.5.8I've started work on the videos section in preparation for uploading the videos that disappeared from YouTube. I've taken down all links pointing to YouTube (I think - if you find one, let me know) and am getting the pages converted to the WC3 standards of HTML coding. Boring work but it has to be done.
Update
4.1.8I've gotten a LiveLeak account set up and will be uploading videos as I get the chance. This is not an April Fool' joke, despite being posted today.
In other news I'm still getting the site HTML 4.01 valid. It's a huge task but in the end things will be better for it all around.
As anyone who knows anything about Columbine already is aware, it's coming up on That Time of year again. I hope all of you keep safe. If you're thinking of trying to stage your own Columbine I seriously recommend you put your plans aside and go talk to someone. Talk to a teacher you like. Talk to the parent of your best friend. Talk to someone who can help you not make the biggest mistake of your life. Put the negative energy you've got stored up into something that will change things for the better, not for the worse. Eric and Dylan are dead. They have been for 8 years now. They didn't get to see the millenium turn. They never knew about the twin towers. They aren't doing anything for or against this world any longer. It's only when we are alive that we can impact the world, one way or another.
Video Troubles
2.27.8So I just discovered that YouTube's suspended my account that I've had with them for the past 5 years. They did it without warning or explanation so I don't know how long it's been down. I'm going to take a guess that some well-meaning idjit took offense at the Columbine-related materials posted and complained. I know that YouTube - like many large websites - automatically suspends accounts that anyone complains about. The reasoning: It would take too much manpower to investigate every claim so they just take the easy route and destroy what they can't police.
Anyway. Until I get a new account set up somewhere to host the videos that were posted to YouTube, there will be a few broken links in the Media section. If you really need to see them, you can find them on the CD-ROMs I send to folks who help pay the bill to host this website. Information can be found here.
Technical Update
2.20.8After three hours I've gotten the main page of this site HTML 4.01 compliant. For accomplishing this task, I got a nifty little badge to put on the website (see below). Eventually I'll get the whole site shifted to 4.01 but it's definitely going to take time. The annoying part: You'll never even notice the difference, most likely. Nothing like the prospect of hours of work that no one will see to brighten the day. Blah. Oh, well. Such is the price of living in the future.
Oxnard Update
2.16.8Lawrence King, the 8th grader who was shot in the head at E.O. Green Junior High School earlier this week has been taken off life support. The reason for the shooting has been released: Lawrence was shot because he wore 'feminine attire' to school. The boy who shot him has been charged with premeditated murder and prosecuters want him tried as an adult.
NIU Update
2.15.8Update @ 7:51PM MST
Steven Kazmierczak used the same web site to purchase gun accessories as the Virginia Tech shooter (Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people last April before shooting himself). TGSCOM Inc., the company who sold the accessories to both gunmen, released a statement that verified the connection.All of the weapons that were used in the NIU shooting have been identified now. Kazmierczak bought a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun in August 2007 and then a High Point .380-caliber handgun on December 30, 2007. The shooter purchased a Remington 48 shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun Saturday, February 9, 2008 from the same store he got the first two from.
More details
***
Update @ 2:00PM MST
The gunman responsible for the shootings at Northern Illinois University has been identified as former student Steven Kazmierczak. Kazmierczak carried four weapons with him during the assault, two of them identified as a pump-action Remington shotgun (which he carried onto campus inside a guitar case) and a Glock 9mm handgun, both of which were purchased legally in Champaign less than a week ago. Kazmierczak was enrolled at the University of Illinois in Champaign. The other two weapons were traced to the same Champaign gun shop but ATF is still trying to determine when Kazmierczak purchased them. The shooter had a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card, required in Illinois for people who buy or possess firearms. Steven Kazmierczak was supposed to be taking medication but had stopped taking it sometime in the past few weeks. His behavior had become erratic in the days before the shooting.
DeKalb County Coroner Dennis J. Miller corrected information released earlier today, saying that there are six dead, not seven: Five students and the gunman. There is still no motive known for the attack. No suicide note or other explanation for the rampage has been found as of yet.
The victims who died were: Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; Julianna Gehant, 32, of Meridan; and Gayle Dubowski, a 20, of Carol Stream.
***
Six people are confirmed dead in the university shooting, including the 27-year-old gunman. Only one victim has been identified at this point: 20-year-old Dan Parmenter, who was in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was a business major at NIU.
Police have identified the shooter but have not released his name yet. He was a former grad student but did not attend the class he attacked. He had received his undergraduate degree in sociology at NIU but was most recently enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign. School records at NIU indicated he was a "stellar student" according to an NIU spokesperson. NIU honored the gunman with a dean's award in for his work in sociology. According to news sources, he was an authority on prisons and self-injury within them. He had been the vice president of the Academic Criminal Justice Association chapter at NIU. Police are saying his name will be released in a 9:00 AM press conference today.NIU is a campus of roughly 25,000 students. There were about 165 students registered in the class the gunman entered. Cole Hall, the 200-seat lecture hall where the shooting occurred, was hosting a geology class that was nearly over when the gunman burst out onto the room's stage armed with a shotgun and a Glock (and perhaps one other handgun). Witnesses said that everyone thought it was a joke until people started getting shot. People in the room say that the shooter looked calm and said nothing as he fired into the area of the lecture hall where the greatest concentration of people were. Some said it appeared like he was targeting specific people; others say he looked like he was shooting randomly.
Local officials were very quick to respond to the situation: A half hour after the first shots were fired the school had an alert on the campus and all classes were cancelled indefinitely. An hour after, law enforcement was able to declare the gunman was no longer a threat. Two hours later the scene was completely secure and an investigation was underway. Medical response teams had people to hospitals within minutes. This is, perhaps, the brightest side to this situation right now.
- CBS Chicago's video coverage Includes a timeline of events
- WBBM Chicago Details about the shooter
5 Dead in Northern Illinois University Shooting
2.14.8DeKalb, Illinois, USA
A gunman dressed in black shot 22 people from the stage of a large lecture hall before turning the gun on himself. Four of the victims died and of those who were injured, at least six are in critical condition. Little is known about the gunman at this time and there has been no motive established. He doesn't appear to have been a student in the class he attacked.
Full story
Oxnard Update
2.13.8The boy who was shot was identified this morning as Lawrence King. The most recent reports say that he is alive but has been declared brain dead. Full story.
Oxnard Student Shot
2.12.8Oxnard, California, USA
A 14 year old 8th grade student at E.O. Green Junior High School shot another 8th grader (age 15) in the head in a classroom at the school. Police are saying that the incident was a personal matter between the two boys. The suspect fled the campus after the shooting but was later arrested and remains in custody. Early news reports held that the victim died from his injuries but local law enforcement are saying he is in the hospital in serious condition in ICU.
Full story
Update
2.11.8I've gotten the corrections done. Thanks a lot to the folks who wrote. Your help is greatly appreciated. In other update news, I'll be tackling the Music section soon. I'm going to be redesigning the layout so it'll be easier to browse. I'll also be adding the songs you readers have mentioned to the list. Thanks for the suggestions.
Update
2.10.8February's shaping up to be a violent month. In Baton Rouge a 23 year old woman entered a classroom at the Lousiana Technical College where she shot and killed two women students before turning her gun on herself (more). Over in Gardner, Kansas, four students at Gardner Edgerton High School stood by and watched as 16 year old Dakota DeRemus was beaten so badly by another 16 year old at the school that he later died. One of the witnesses even recorded it with his cellphone. During court proceedings that have followed, Dakota's family said that the boy had been bullied for over two years before he was killed. (more)
Not the happiest start to the new year.
In other news, I'm working on some of the corrections folks have been kind enough to point out to me. Thanks for the emails. I really do appreciate it as I don't see the site from the perspective of the reader. Things sometimes slip by my radar.
School Shooting at Ohio Elementary School
2.7.8Portsmouth, Ohio, USA
A teacher was shot this morning in front of Notre Dame Elementary School. The suspect: Her husband.
After shooting his wife on the Catholic school's front steps the man left the school campus. As of the last update this morning the man had barricaded himself inside his house with several weapons. Police were waiting for the arrival of a SWAT team.
There was another shooting in the city around this time that appeared to be related to the teacher's shooting but there's no information available on what that might be. Updates will be posted as they become available.
Full story at WLWT Cincinnati.
New Year, Old Faces
1.29.8I've been working behind the scenes on the site this whole time but I completely forgot to post anything to the front page. Go me.
Anyway, I was reading the news and to my surprise I saw a familiar face: Mitchell Johnson, now aged 23 and being arrested again. If you don't recognize the name, Johnson was one of the two Jonesboro shooters (Andrew Golden was the other). He wasn't shooting at schools this time, though the charges do involve guns.Johnson was pulled over and found in possession of marijuana. He had a 9mm pistol with him when the pot was found, as well as a 20-gauge shotgun. Friends said Johnson had the guns with him because he felt like there were people after him (which, considering his past, is probably true). A law in Arkansas that deals with simultaneous drug and weapons possession means Johnson - who has been out of the penal system for just two years - may go back to prison for 10 more years.
Read the full story here.
End of the Year
12.30.7Welcome to the end.
The end of the year, that is. Yes, it's been another year in its entirety. For me, it seemed to fly by thanks to having way too much to do and not enough time to do it in. 2007 has seen a number of interesting events and many unfortunate, sad ones. I can only hope 2008 will be a bit less gloomy. On the bright side: I have finally caught up on my email. If you wrote and haven't received a reply, please write again as the email never reached me.
On a related note, by now you have probably heard that Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan People's Party) was assassinated, if you follow politics at all. This tragic event threatened the future of democracy for Pakistan but her 19 year old son Bilawil Zardari has stepped up and said he is going to attempt to fill her shoes. At 19, he is taking on a role that got his mother killed. I feel a great deal of respect for this young man who is stepping into a very difficult future. It's a bit odd knowing that he's the same age as many of the shooters that I've written about on this website over the years. How much difference circumstances can make for a life.
Anyway, if you want to know more about the situation, see CNN's latest.
Have a safe turn of the new year.
Mother of Mall Shooter Apologizes for Son
12.13.7When asked today what she would say to the families of the victims, Maribel Rodriguez, mother of Omaha shooter Robert Hawkins, told ABC's Good Morning America: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm deeply devastated with you."
She went on to say: "If you want to hate Robert, then hate Robert. You don't need that pain. You absolutely don't need that type of pain in your heart and mind. Because it destroys your soul."
Hawkins spent four years in group homes, treatment centers and foster care after he'd threatened to kill his step mother in 2002. Just before the shooting Robert had been fired from his job and had broken up with his girlfriend.
"He was without hope," his mother said. "He was without faith. He was without courage. Because you don't do that to other people. You just don't do that to other people."
In regards to herself and what people should think about her son, she said: "I'm not perfect, I know that. But you tell me: What could I have done differently? I did my best."
Source: Associated Press
More on the New Life Church Shooting
12.11.7Police are now saying that though Matthew Murray was shot "multiple times" by volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam, he died from a single shot he fired on himself. Writings online that are being attributed to Murray are reported to carry a strong resemblance to things written by Eric Harris before the shootings at Columbine.
According to KUSA-TV in Denver, Murray wrote online: "You Christians brought this on yourselves. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can, especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."
The Denver Post reported the following regarding the text that was posted Sunday during the time between the two shootings:
A diatribe was posted at 11:03 a.m. Sunday on a website devoted to people who have left religion. Investigating authorities believe it was left by gunman Matthew Murray. With the exception of two minor changes, some rearranging and the final paragraph, the text was originally written as a manifesto by Columbine killer Eric Harris. Some expletives from the Harris version were replaced by Murray with symbols. Other expletives were removed for publication, where noted.
The final paragraph comes from lyrics from the song "Anarchy" by the band KMFDM.
Read the actual content here.
Shooting at Colorado Missionary Training Center and Church
12.10.7Sunday two violent shootings staged 12 hours and 65 miles apart have led to the death of four people and that of the gunman, 24 year old Matthew Murray. Five others were wounded. Home-schooled and raised in a deeply religious household, Murray was kicked out of the Youth with a Mission program and had been sending hate mail to the heads of the program during the past few weeks. Murray, clad in black, targeted Youth with a Mission training center and then the New Life Church, where the gunman was shot by a security guard. He fell and when the guard ordered him to drop his weapon, he made a move to grab something that "may have been a grenade" so she shot him again, killing him. The mission training center had an office at the 10,000-member church.
Read more here.
Just a note...
12.7.7Due to the holidays and a huge pile of work, I'm behind in my email once again. If you've emailed me in the last 2 weeks and haven't received a response yet, please know that I will get to it as I have time. If you have an urgent request that's time-sensitive, please put URGENT in the subject. I am not behind on CD fulfillment -- CD requests via Paypal go to another account entirely so those of you who have ordered them, they are being shipped out same- or next-day and will continue to be as I don't include personalized correspondence in the packages; just an instruction sheet. I will get to email as I have time. Thanks to those of you who have sent in corrections that need fixing and general kudos. I appreciate it.
Omaha Mall Shooting
12.5.7Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Two suicide notes and a will were found at the home of 20 year old Robert A. Hawkins, who opened fire on a shopping mall in Omaha, killing at least eight people and injuring three others. In his writings he said he was "going out with style". He went on to say that he'd never amounted to anything in his life but that after today he would be famous. Witnesses to the shooting said Hawkins appeared to be firing randomly. Hawkins was described as having a military-style haircut, was wearing a camouflage jacket and was carrying a black backpack.Hawkins was recently homeless till friends of his took him into their house. He had gotten a job at McDonald's and, according to the family he was staying with, had been showing positive signs toward getting back on his feet. However, Wednesday Robert called the owner of the home he was staying at. She described him as sounding "very upset" and he told her he had been fired after the fast food restaurant accused him of stealing $17. The home owner told WOWT-TV that Hawkins ended the call with these words: "I love you and I'm sorry for any pain I've caused you."
Read more about this tragic event here.
Jokela High Shooting
11.7.7Tuusula, Finland
"Revolution! Smash everything!" the 18 year old gunman cried as he stormed through his school.
Armed with a .22 caliber handgun, he killed seven students (five boys, two girls) and the headmistress (principal) of the school and injured at least 12 others, before turning his weapon on himself. He survived the shot to the head and is currently in the hospital, listed as being in "extremely critical condition".
A member of a gun club in Tuusula,
Auvinen posted 89 videos to YouTube, many containing Nazi imagery and footage of the Columbine shootings. He also had video clips posted of the Waco incident in 1993, as well as other historical violent footage. He claimed in one of his blog posts: "I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection."
You can read more about this story here and here.
Eric Harris' Journal Drawings
10.31.7I've added a new page and three more scans to the section that deals with Eric's drawings. The new pictures were pulled from the 946 page report addendum that Jefferson County released in 2006. There are more... I'm still converting them from PDF to an easily-viewed format for the website.
Happy Halloween. Hope yours is a safe and fun one.
A Little Late...
10.30.7I know this is old news now but I'd misplaced these links when I wanted to post them. I just found them again so I thought I'd share them. The first article has to do with 14 year old Asa Coon who shot two teachers and two students at his high school in Cleveland, Ohio before committing suicide. The information comes from the boy's uncle, who says Asa told him that teachers wouldn't listen to his side of the story regarding the fight that got him suspended from school days before the shooting. The article also mentions how Asa threatened to blow up the school but the people (including teachers) didn't take the threats seriously. Asa was the subject of bullying at school and had been neglected as a child. When his uncle heard he was dead, the man's first though was that someone at school had beaten him to death.
Read the article
The second article covers the charges that were placed against Michele Cossey, mother of 14 year old Dillon Cossey in Norristown, Pennsylvania, for buying him at least three guns despite his age. Asa's father also attempted to purchase the boy a gun but was unable to due to the fact that his father was a felon. Dillon Cossey was arrested on suspicion of planning a school assault after a high school student and his father tipped off police. When authorities searched his home they discovered Dillon had amassed quite an arsenal including the guns his mother had purchased, knives, sworsd, and items related to the Columbine shootings, including videos such as 'Game Over in Littleton'.
Read the article
Update
10.29.7Everything's up and running on the new host as far as I'm aware. Find anything broken? Email me with the URL (web address) and the problem and I'll get it fixed.
While I was tooling around, I expanded the section dedicated to the victims who died. Each victim has their own page of detailed information about their lives, and I plan to spruce up each page with the photos that are currently linked to each page - some of the pages I've already started this with.