Richard Castaldo, 17 in 1999.
Richard was a friend of Rachel Scott and was sitting on the grassy knoll outside near the west entrance of the school. They had taken to eating lunch together recently and were doing just that when the shooters first opened fire. They killed her and critically injured him - they were the first of several victims. Though he had seen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold around campus before, Richard did not know them.

Badly injured, he played dead till paramedics came to pull him off the grass about 20 minutes after the shooting began. He suffered five gunshot wounds to his left arm, chest, back and abdomen. His lungs, kidney, and spleen were damaged and one of his vertebrae was fractured between the shoulders, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. He was moved from the Swedish Medical Center June 1st 1999 to Craig Hospital for spinal cord rehabilitation. He was released August 21, 1999 - the last of the injured to be released from the hospitals. He remains in a wheelchair.

He got his driver's license in February, 2000, and drives a van modified for his wheelchair. He planned to attend Arapahoe Community College and wants to have a career a sound designer in the game design field (see his online resumé). He was featured in Michael Moore's 'Bowling for Columbine' documentary wherein he (along with Mark Taylor) managed to convince K-mart to stop selling ammunition.

Read Richard's father Rick's 2000 congressional testimony about Project Exile.

May 6, 2006 he was interviewed by Kotaku about his opinions regarding the Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, which he downloaded and played, to see exactly what it was. In his words:


Click here for the full interview.

Sean Graves, 15 in 1999.
Sean had just left the cafeteria with friends Lance Kirklin and Dan Rohrbourgh and was heading up the grassy knoll with them with plans to head over to "Smokers' Pit" at Leawood Park across the street. The shooters were roughly twelve feet away when Sean saw them. He saw Eric load his gun, then turned and fired on the west entrance about 10 times. As he watched, first Dylan and then Eric turned toward Sean and his friends. Dylan opened fire and Eric followed suit.

Danny was hit and fell back into Sean, who was under the mistaken impression that it was all a senior prank. When Lance ran and was felled by a bullet to the leg, Sean realized what was happening and tried to run as well. He took three shots to the abdomen and back but still managed to make it as far as the cafeteria door before a shot to the leg brought him down. He stuck his arm in the closing door and tried to drag himself inside but couldn't. A dean tried to do the same but someone told her not to because of his serious injuries. He decided to play dead there, wedged halfway inside the building, and was stepped on when Dylan entered the cafeteria to check on the bombs left there earlier. Sean was still alert when the propane bomb went off and he was stepped on again by students trying to escape the blast.

His back/spine injury was deemed an 'incomplete spinal injury' by doctors, meaning that he was paralyzed below the injury level but retained some feeling and movement. He was later moved to Craig Hospital for spinal cord rehabilitation. On June 20th, 1999 he took his first steps. He was released from Craig July 7th, 1999.

Sean was best friends with fellow victim Patrick Ireland; both boys were good friends of the deceased Danny Rohrbourgh. Sean and Lance Kirklin, who was shot in the face, haven't yet spoken much about that day, Sean told reporters. He said he gets too emotional to talk to Lance in person, preferring email correspondance as of 1999.

Sean told reporters he used to have nightmares about being shot long before the attack on Columbine. Those nightmares stopped after the shooting. His home was rebuilt to accomodate the wheelchair he was using at the time and donations from folks around the world paid for a home gym to assist his personal therapy. Sean's father Randy purchased him a used pick-up truck when Sean was 16, when the teen proved to his father he could get in and out of it unassisted.

Sean graduated from Columbine in 2002, using only a crutch to walk across the stage to receive his diploma. That same year a 20-year-old Sean went back to Columbine for the 5th 'anniversary' of the tragedy. He planned to place a cigar on the ground where Danny died.

Anne Marie Hochhalter, 17 in 1999.
Anne Marie was outside eating lunch on the grassy knoll with two friends when the shooting began. At first she thought it was a joke but when she saw students getting shot in the legs, she realized it was for real. She tried to run to the safety of the cafeteria and was shot by one of the gunmen [Eric Harris], once in the back and once in the chest. Paralyzed by a bullet that damaged her spinal cord and diaphragm (it was later found lodged in her liver), she collapsed, unable to move. She told investigators later that while she was playing dead she could hear one of the gunmen shouting orders to the other but couldn't understand what they were saying. If rescue workers had been as little as two minutes slower in reaching her, she would have died. As such doctors later called her the "miracle girl". She was later moved to Craig Hospital for spinal cord rehabilitation. She spent four months in the hospital.

Her mother Carla - who'd been diagnosed with depression even before the shootings - committed suicide 6 months later, on October 22, 1999. The reports say she went to a pawn shop, bought a gun, loaded it and killed herself on the spot. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her father Ted remarried a year later, marrying one of the grief counselors he and Anne met.

Her 16 year old brother Nathan was also a student at Columbine. While the shooting occured, Nathan was trapped in a science room. Anne Marie underwent therapy at Craig Hospital with Patrick Ireland and resumed school Sept. 9 1999, taking one Physics class with him. Her family bought a house with wheelchair ramps and lifts with the help of Colorado Homebuilders Foundation. At age 18, she was attending Columbine part time and helped out in the nurse's office in addition to taking classes. She wanted to go on to community college once she graduated but had planned to take the summer of 2000 off to "be a teen" since she'd lost that time the previous summer.

Anne Marie's open letter to the public and pictures.
Anne Marie describes her pain.

Valeen "Val" Schnurr, 18 in 1999.
Valeen was in the library during the shootings. She had been sitting on a chair near a table that was close to the main entrance and a window that looked out into the hallway. At the table were seated her friends Jessica Holliday (who left the table shortly after Val's arrival), Lisa Kreutz, Diwata Perez, Lauren Townsend, and Jeanna Park. Another girl [Kelly Fleming] was seated at the table as well. Valeen had chosen to sit near, not at, the table due to the fact that she had arrived late and the table was full. While Val was reading she heard a shot and shortly after, teacher Patti Nielson came in, telling everyone to get down. Val hid moved to the table where Jessica had been and hid beneath it, along with the other girls who had been sitting there. She found herself sitting next to Lauren, who pulled her closer and told her that everything would be okay. At that time many of the students thought it was all just a senior prank.

When the shooters entered the library, all she could see was their legs. She heard them yell at Isaiah Shoels and then shoot a couple of people before one of the shooters [Dylan Klebold] moved over to her table. He shot beneath it, injuring her and Lisa Kreutz. He fired again, as fast as his gun would shoot, this time killing Lauren. Val fell out from under the table, realizing only then that her stomach and abdomen were hurt. Panicking, Val repeatedly cried out: "Oh, my God! Help me!"

There was some controversy for a while about "who said 'yes'?" - for a long while news contended Cassie Bernall was a martyr who was shot for answering 'yes' when one of the shooters asked her if she believed in God. Joshua Lapp, one of the students who was in the library but uninjured stated that the killers spoke to many students, and asked more than one if they believed in God. What their answer was didn't seem to dictate whether they got shot or not.

Attracted by Val's cries, the shooters both came over to where she was. One of the shooters, who was reloading his weapon at the time, then asked her if she believed in God. She floundered in her answer, saying no at first and then yes, trying to get the answer 'right'. He asked her 'Why?' and she said it was because it was what her family believed. Valeen then crawled back under the table where she lay down and played dead until the shooters left the library. She tried then to wake Lauren but when she couldn't, Val fled the library. She was one of the last to leave the library, of those that could.

Val suffered nine soft tissue wounds to her left arm, chest, and abdomen from shrapnel and through-and-through bullet wounds. she was released from Swedish April 27. Graduated from Columbine May 22. She graduated from Columbine May 23, 1999 despite her injuries.

Mark Kintgen, 17 in 1999.
After 2nd period Mark noticed on the scrolling message board (that was broadcast in various parts of the school) a message that read: "Today is not a good day to be here" but didn't think much about it till after the day turned tragic. Assigned to "B" lunch, Mark's 5th period was a free period for him and he usually spent it in the library. Tuesday the 20th was no exception. He arrived shortly before [Valeen Schnurr] and sat at a table near to the one where Val's friends were sitting. He was reading a magazine when he heard the first shots and thought someone was hammering. However, as soon as [Patti Nielson] came in and told everyone to get down, he immediately complied, realizing something serious was going on.

When the shooters entered the library and began to kill people he didn't see much from where he was hiding but clearly heard one of them say after shots were fired: "Oh look at his brains!"; laughter from the killers followed. Not long after he heard one of the two assailants shoot out a nearby glass display case before heading over to the table where Mark was hiding. Mark was then shot at, taking a bullet to the head and one to the shoulder. He later remembered hearing a male voice asking someone "Do you believe in God?". The next thing he remembered was waking up covered in splinters and was afraid that he was going to die. He saw Patti Blair, another student, get up from under another nearby table and he told her that he needed help but she didn't stop to assist him. He crawled out from under the table and followed her out of the library to the safety of the patrol cars positioned outside of the school.

The bullet in Mark's head was surgically removed. He was released from Denver Health April 23 with a bullet still lodged in his shoulder.

Mark suffers from cerebral palsy and has a twin brother named Mike. Mark graduated from Columbine High School on May 20, 2000, and was planning to attend Arapahoe Community College. His mother, Kay, hopes that they will one day find closure.

Lisa Kreutz, 18 in 1999.
Lisa usually would usually spend her "A" lunch period either in the library or going out to lunch with Jessica Holliday and Bethany Koch. In the library she would usually sit with Jessica, Jeanna Park, and Diwata Perez on the east side of the library and that's what she did on the 20th. She joined Jessica, Jeanna, Diwata, and Lauren Townsend. Jessica left soon after Lisa sat down and headed over to the computer section. About that time Lisa heard the first popping gunshots. Her story is similar to many of those in the library that day: She hid under the table she was at when Patti Nielson came through and told the room to do so, joining her friends and another girl [Kelly Fleming].

When the shooters entered the library she heard one say: "Are you still with me? We're still gonna do this, right?" They started yelling then and one said something about blowing up the library. She heard an explosion inside the library then and she heard one of the gunmen say that they hated the school and that the school had messed them up. Then the shooting began inside the library, setting the fire alarm off. The girls pulled the chairs in closer to the table to hide behind but that didn't stop the bullets when [Dylan Klebold] began to shoot under their table. Lisa's right wrist was grazed by a stray bullet. She heard the "Do you believe in God?" exchange between Valeen Schnurr, which occurred about the same time that [Dylan] fired again under the table where Lisa was still hiding. She was hit several times, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to shoulder, hand and both arms. She lay bleeding in the library for 2 1/2 hours, unable to move due to the severity of her injuries, before she was rescued by officials onscene. She was the last survivor to be pulled from the library.

Lisa was released from the hospital April 28, 1999. She graduated from Columbine High on May 23, 1999, and went on to the University of Colorado. She has never spoken publicly about what happened to her in the library on April 20, 1999.

Lance Kirklin, 16 in 1999.
Lance had "A" Lunch with Dan Rohrbough and Sean Graves and, after arranging the lunch dishes as a centerpiece on his table, decided to go have a smoke at "Smokers' Pit", an area where smokers would go in Leawood Park, across the street from the school. The three boys left the cafeteria and headed up the grassy hill in time to see the shooters open fire. He saw Dan get shot and attempted to catch him, only to be shot himself in the foot, right leg and chest. He saw Sean fall to the ground as well, just before Lance fell. A short while later, [Dylan Klebold] came down the stairs and shot him at point-blank range in the face. Later Lance said he only remembered seeing blue sky above him but felt his face being jolted and feeling pools of blood below his mouth. Just before Lance blacked out he saw Danny take his last breath.

Lance suffered from a total of five gunshot wounds. His jaw and face were rebuilt with bone and tissue from his leg as well as titanium alloy to replace lost bone in his thigh and jaw, a process that took 9 operations. He was released from the hospital on May 15, 1999. On May 21 he went with investigators to Columbine to do a walk-through of the crime scene in hopes of remembering more details about that tragic day. See the sketch he did of one of the shooters for officials.

He returned to Columbine the next school year but was suspended due to sporadic attendance. Continues to hunt with his dad Mike and spoke up for gun rights April 2000 at a Denver town meeting on guns attended by President Bill Clinton. He and his father moved into a new house with their new puppy 'Hunter'.

Letter from Lance's family:

Jeanna Park, 18 in 1999.
Jeanna was hiding under the table with Lauren Townsend, Lisa Kreutz, Diwata Perez, [Kelly Fleming], and Valeen Schnurr when the shooters entered the library. Earlier she had seen Dylan Klebold run by the library window carrying a big gun but she couldn't see who it was who had entered the library at the time the shooting began since she was hiding, like the teacher had instructed. She heard the gunmen make a racial comment and joke about how they'd always wanted to do this. She heard them yelling and heard one of them [Eric Harris] shoot at some bookshelves and thought some people were being shot, but couldn't see what was going on from under the table. At one point she tried to leave her hiding place to reach her Freshman sister Kathy, who was over by the computer tables when the students were told to get down by [Patti Nielson]. Diwata Perez held her back, telling her that Jessica Holliday was over there with her and would take care of her.

When Valeen was flushed out from under the table she heard one of the gunmen ask her if she believed in god and later told investigators she knew it wasn't Dylan Klebold because she knew his voice from sharing a class with him before. There was a moment of silence afterward and Val crawled back under the table. Immediately the shooting resumed and Jeanna was shot from behind. She was hit in the right knee, right shoulder and left foot, and fell to the floor where she stayed until she noticed some of the other people in the library getting up and leaving. She went to leave as well, checking the computer tables for her sister. Not seeing her, Jeanna left alone.

She was released from the hospital April 26, 1999. Jeanna returned to Columbine when she was well enough and graduated with honors May 23, 1999.

Stephen Austin Eubanks, 16 in 1999.
He was with best friend Corey DePooter in the library when the shooting began. When the teacher ran in telling everyone to get down, he, Corey, Jennifer Doyle, and an unknown freshman hid under the same table. When the shooters entered the room, Austin heard a bomb go off in the library, and then could hear the gunmen walking around randomly shooting people. He knew the shooters by their first names and later told investigators that usually Dylan wore a trenchcoat but wasn't wearing it in the library at that time.

At one point Austin heard a male voice [John Savage] ask [Dylan] and [Eric] what they were doing, to which [Dylan] responded "Killing people!", before telling the boy to get out of the library. When they got to the table Austin was under, Austin watched as [Dylan] pointed his semi-automatic gun under the table, aimed directly at Corey, then pulled the trigger. Austin covered his head as Dylan continued to fire. When the shooting stopped, he looked up and saw Corey bleeding badly and knew he was dead.

When the shooters finally left the library, Austin and the other survivors under the table got up and ran outside where they were met by police officers. Austin was treated for a gunshot wounds to the hand and a bullet grazed knee. He was released from the hospital the same day and graduated from Columbine High School on May 20, 2000.

Nicholas 'Nick' Foss, 18 in 1999.
Nick was in the cafeteria eating lunch when he heard a girl shout: "Someone's shooting! Someone's shooting!". He saw two guys outside shooting, anf recognized one of them as Eric, a guy in his Psychology class. He mistakenly told investigators later that the other shooter's name was "Dan". Nick said that he ran outside and asked them what they were doing and they pointed their weapons at him. In another report Nick told investigators that he went over to one of the victims that had "half of his face blown off and was obviously dead" before the shooters fired on him.

He ran back into the school as the shooters fired at him, reaching the cafeteria as the propane bomb inside partially detonated. It shattered the windows and he fell back against a wall. Hearing more bombs go off (pipe bombs) he ran into the bathroom with several other individuals, including student Tim Kastle and teacher Joyce Jankowski, where they all stayed for roughly 45 minutes listening to the shooters fire their weapons.

According to statements Nick gave investigators, it was his suggestion that they might be able to escape through the ceiling ventilation shaft. Ms. Jankowski tried first only to fall through the ceiling. Tim tried next and was able to get out. Nick went up next, and tried to escape by crawling through the ceiling but wound up falling through into the teacher's lounge. He was able to run from the building to police officers waiting outside.

He had a twin brother, Adam, who was also in the school at the time of the shootings. Trapped in an office, Adam helped other students up into the ceiling where the air wasn't so stuffy so they could breathe easier while they hid.

Nick was treated for slight injuries sustained in the 15 foot fall through the ceiling and the bullet that grazed his head. Released April 20, 1999. He told investigators later that he felt as though angels were watching over him that day because one of the killers pointed a gun at his head but it didn't go off when the shooter pulled the trigger. He graduated from Columbine in May, 1999.

Joyce Jankowski, 45 in 1999.
When the shooting began Joyce, a teacher at Columbine, was in the faculty lounge about to have lunch. She heard a commotion outside an when she looked out the window she saw two bodies. Judy Grecko, one of the other two teachers in the room, tried to call 911 but the phone was dead. Several shots soon followed and Joyce and the other teacher, Amy Burnett, ran into the small one-person bathroom that was attached to the lounge. There were two other faculty members already there (a cafeteria worker named Karen and a teacher, Sue Carruthers) and three students (Nick Foss, Tim Kastle, and Sean Nossaman). When Nick came in, Joyce heard him say: "Oh my God, I saw some kid's face get shot off, and I got hit!" She told investigators that Nick took off his shirt but she didn't remember seeing any injuries.

They heard loud voices and several loud bangs outside the room and Nick told them that the shooters had shotguns. About 10 minutes later she heard four quieter shots, and Nick said he thought that was probably the police shooting at the gunmen. Joyce then heard a "whoosh" sound and smelled something that she told investigators smelled like natural gas.

While they hid in the restroom, the group discussed their options, afraid that the shooters might come into the bathroom. According to Joyce, it was Tim Kastle who first suggested that they could go up into the ceiling. He stood on Nick's shoulders and climbed up; Joyce then followed. She started to move toward what she thought was a vent that lead to the outside of the building but almost immediately fell through the ceiling. She landed astride a cable and then fell all the way to the floor where she went back to the bathroom door, knocked, and was let back in. Shortly after she heard a loud explosion that caused everything in the room to shake.

After about 40 minutes had passed since the starting of the assault, they heard intense voices that sounded as though they were right outside the bathroom door. Joyce then heard two rather calm male voices outside the door and the sound of some metal objects being moved around. Again the group in the bathroom discussed what they should do but before they could decide, another student's head appeared in the open spot in the ceiling where Tim Kastle had gone out. He told them that they should "run off now". Joyce and the others ran out through the cafeteria and out the northwest door to a police unit stationed near the school. She saw Tim Kastle already there and heard him telling the officer there that he knew the shooters were Dylan Klebold and a boy named Harris, though she didn't hear the boy's first name that Tim told the officer.

Joyce was asked by investigators if she knew the shooters and she told investigators that Dylan had been in her class two years prior and she recalled him as quiet, grade-conscious, and creative.

She was treated for injuries sustained in the fall through the ceiling when she tried to escape the school and was released April 20, 1999.

Adam Kyler, 16 in 1999.
Adam was in the cafeteria when the shooting began - he told investigators later that fellow victim Kyle Velasquez had been sitting at his table sometime before the shooting began. He heard Coach Dave Sanders yell for the students to get down when the shooters opened fire. Adam then heard popping noises and turned to look and saw Dylan Klebold coming in through one of the doors on the south wall. When he heard three or four shots come from the area near Klebold, Adam got up and ran north toward the kitchen. Just before he reached the serving line Adam was hit with a chair in the ribs.

He got back to his feet with the help of his friend, Dusty Hoffschneider, and the two of them ran toward the kitchen. Adam went into the storage area while Dusty ran back toward the west side of the cafeteria where he pulled the fire alarm and ran out. Adam went to hide in the kitchen.

Adam and 18 other people stayed hidden in the kitchen where they barricaded the doors. At one point they heard the doors rattle but the sound soon stopped when whoever was on the other side couldn't get in. They stayed there for several hours, able to talk to the Denver police from a phone there. They stayed there till the SWAT team told them to get into the bathroom where they were then evacuated by way of the staff lounge.

When authorities asked Adam how he knew Dylan, Adam told them that Dylan had begun harassing him at school around November and December 1998. It got to the point where Adam's mother, Susan Kyler, reported it to the school authorities, who said they would take care of the problem; there were no further problems with Klebold after that. Previously Adam had told investigators that Dylan had been with a group of four kids in black trenchcoats had told him near Christmas 1998 that they would kill him if he went to class and that if he told anyone about the threats they would shoot him and also said at the time that these students were part of a group known as the Trench Coat Mafia. However, in a later interview with officials, he said he hadn't had any problems with any of the other Trench Coat Mafia students except for Dylan during the harrassment. He said then that while Dylan was harrassing him three other students, believed to be Trench Coat Mafia members, were with Dylan but that they weren't actually involved in the harrassment. Susan told investigators that Adam had a learning disability and that she believed it to be the reason Dylan had harrassed her son.

He was treated for abdominal pain and released April 20, 1999.

Stephanie Munson, 17 in 1999.
Stephanie and her friend Melissa Walker were heading out of tech lab class to go talk with one of the A.C.E. teachers when she heard popping noises - she had never heard gunfire before so didn't recognize the sounds. About that time a male teacher ran up behind them, yelling at them to get out of the building. She and Melissa ran wast toward the main entrance. As they were exiting through the first set of double doors Stephanie felt as though her left foot exploded: There was a burning sensation and a pop, then her foot went numb.

Once outside the school, Stephanie paused by the bike rack to look at her foot and saw that it was bleeding. Melissa, hysterical, insisted that she keep running. it wasn't until Stephanie got across the street to Leawood Park, though, that she was able to take her shoe and sock off, at which time she discovered that she'd been shot. There were several people already in the park at the time and more were pouring out of the school by the minute. Seeing her wounded ankle, which was a through-and-through injury from a 9mm bullet, someone with a cellphone called 911 . An ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital where she was treated and released April 20, 1999.

Stephanie had just started attending Columbine four months prior to the shootings. She and her younger sister Jennifer designed a commemorative Columbine stuffed bear, made available shortly after the shootings to raise money for other victims. They may not be available any longer but for more information about the bears, write:

Patricia 'Patti' Nielson, 35 in 1999.
Patti was on hall monitor duty when she she saw a male student at the west end of the hallway with a gun. She asked another student [Brian Anderson] who was passing by what was going on and he told her he thought the other student was probably "shooting a movie", and that the gun was probably a prop cap gun since he knew the student in question (later Patti overheard [Brian] telling another teacher his name was Eric Harris and knew he was in the video productions class. Patti didn't think it was right to have a gun in the school, pretend or not, and went to confront the student. She had just passed through the first set of double doors where the student, [Eric Harris], was at when he fired the weapon toward the outside. He then turned and, seeing her and [Brian], smiled and shot at them as well. He missed, hitting the glass doors behind them. Patti was hit with broken glass and shrapnel. Screaming "Dear God! Dear God! Dear God!" in terror, she turned to run. She saw [Brian] get shot in the back as he moved to retreat with her but he was able to keep running with her the opposite direction from the shooter, toward the library.

Once in the library Patti ran to the phone at the circulation desk and dialed 911. While she was on the phone, the librarian Ms. Keating and another teacher came in and told everyone to get out of the library. Patti could hear the gunman getting closer, though, and told the students to get down, under the tables. She remained on the phone with the 911 dispatcher (see transcripts and hear a portion of this call) as long as she could but when it became clear that both shooters were going to enter the library, she left the phone receiver on the floor and crawled as far under the librarian's desk as she could.

She saw the shooters walk past the desk and could see they were both wearing black military-style pants. At one point she heard what she thought was a student trying to stand up to the shooters. She heard him say: "That's enough!" in a confrontational tone, to which one of the gunmen replied: "What do we have here?" She heard them use the racial slur "nigger" and then heard them shoot someone. During the ordeal in the library she heard them call someone "fat boy", and at a later point heard one of the girls cry out "Oh God!" and then heard one of the gunmen ask her if she believed in God. She then heard him call her "awful and hateful names". More gunfire followed. Eventually the shooters went to leave but one of them [Dylan] paused near the circulation desk, saying: "Wait a minute! There's one more thing!" then he smashed a chair on top of the desk. After that she heard one of them say: "Let's go down to the commons."

After the noises stopped entirely she crawled to the librarian's workroom and saw two other women, Lois and Carol, hiding in a small room off the main workroom. Patti crawled inside a cupboard and shut the doors, where she remained for around three hours. While she was in the cupboard, she heard more gunfire coming from the library. She heard the gunmen say they were going to blow the library up but she couldn't bring herself to leave the cupboard for fear of getting shot. Eventually Lois opened the cupboard and told Patti they needed to leave. They were able to escape the school at that point, escorted by police. She ran south to Pierce St. where she was treated for her injuries, including a grazing wound to the shoulder from a bullet. She was then taken to the hospital where she was treated and released April 20, 1999.

Jennifer Doyle, 17 in 1999.
Jennifer didn't know Eric Harris before the shootings but had met Dylan Klebold before: They had attended elementary school together at Governor's Ranch Elementary and had both been in the CHIPS program together.

After lunch Jennifer went to the library, passing by the tech lab on her way. She sat at a table where Mark Kintgen was already seated. When investigators asked her who else was in the library at the time, she was able to identify Val Schnurr, Lisa Kreutz, Lauren Townsend, and Jeanna Park. She was sitting at her table when [Patti Nielson] and [Brian Anderson] entered. She took the teacher's commands to get under the tables seriously as she could see that Brian was injured. She was going to get under the table she shared with Mark but, concerned that it wasn't big enough to hide her, she ran to a table toward the back of the library where she hid with Austin Eubanks and Corey DePooter. Corey told her and Austin that everything was going to be all right, trying to encourage them and stop them being scared.

She heard gunshots and bombs going off in the direction of the hallway outside the library entrance and while she didn't see the shooters enter, she knew they had come inside the room when she heard a male voice demand: "Get out from under the tables!". No one moved.

At one point she heard one of the gunmen ask very close to her location: "What's your name?" and the person he was addressing answered: "John Savage." The shooter then said: "Oh, we know you. Get out of here." Jennifer thought perhaps the police had showed up and were letting people go but then suddenly one of the two gunmen pulled a chair out from under the table where she was hiding and saw the shooters, and saw Dylan holding a shotgun. She told investigators he had another gun at his hip, which she picked out in a line of silhouettes as being a Tec-9. When he pulled the chair out, Dylan shot beneath the table. She'd had her hand on Corey's shoulder when Dylan opened fire and she started screaming. She realized she should probably stop and when she did, she felt a "pins and needles" sensation in her right hand. She could hear both gunmen laughing and she put her head down on Corey's back, facing away from the gunmen so she could keep her eyes open while playing dead - she didn't want the to see her looking around.

She looked at her hand and saw it was injured so she wrapped the end of Corey's shirt around it. She noticed then that there was blood flowing along Corey's left side and heard him take his last breath. She knew then that he'd been killed. She heard one of the shooters say then: "You know what else I've wanted to do?" and the other boy responded: "Yeah. Stab someone." Jennifer lay very still then; she was afraid if she moved that she would be stabbed. After a while she thought the shooters had left the library and she said something to Austin, to which he responded: "Shhhh!" and the two of them said nothing more for a while. Finally Austin tapped her and said, "We've got to get out of here." and the two of them backed out from under the table and they both fled the school. She ran to a police car which was positioned 20 to 30 feet away where she saw other male students removing their shirts to use to help the wounded. After a while of waiting police cruisers showed up to evacuate the students hiding there with her. She was in the third car that came.

Jennifer took three shotgun pellets to the right hand: One crushed her ring finger, another entered her wrist, and another entered the back of her hand, resulting in seven broken bones. Released before April 24, 1999. Jennifer now has a metal plate and screws holding her ring finger together. Graduated from Columbine High School on May 20, 2000. Went on to University of Colorado in the fall.

Daniel Steepleton, 17 in 1999.
Daniel had lunch fifth period, and he spent it in the library, where he met up with Makai Hall. He and Makai sat at a table with Corey DePooter, Patrick Ireland, and Austin Eubanks, where they were for about 10 minutes before he started hearing something that sounded like the librarian hammering something into the wall. He looked toward the circulation desk and about that time he heard a woman yell: "Get down! They have guns!". As he ducked under the table he glanced out the window and saw a group of people running from the school past the soccer field.

While he was hiding under the table he'd ducked under, along with Makai Hall, Patrick Ireland, and a dark-haired girl he didn't know, he could hear the banging sounds getting closer and felt the floor shake. As the sounds intensified he heard a male voice yell: "This is for the four years of bullshit we had to put up with!" (a later report to another officer said that the gunman yelled: "This is for the four years of bullshit you've given us!"). Then one of the shooters yelled: "Everyone with a white hat, stand up!". At one point he heard one of the gunmen ask someone "Do you believe in God?" and a female voice answer "Yes". He heard a gunshot afterward and people screaming. He told investigators he could hear a shotgun and an automatic weapon being fired at the same time.

Then he saw them, over by the east end of the computer tables. He described them to investigators: "walking with a bounce, and appearing very happy". He described the first as being tall, white, wearing a long black coat, black boots, and a black hat on backwards. He had fairly long hair, possibly blond, and was carrying a shotgun and a royal blue backpack over one shoulder. Daniel told investigators he recognized the gunman as a member of a group called the Trench Coat Mafia (he later told investigators that he hadn't known Dylan previously but had learned his name from news reports was Dylan Klebold). Daniel said he didn't have classes with any of them and didn't know the rest of the group well enough to be able to identify them. Daniel described the second gunman as a shorter white male who was wearing a long black coat, black boots, a black baseball cap worn backwards. He had short hair and was carrying an automatic handgun and a royal blue backpack over one shoulder. He told investigators it was his impression this shorter gunman was in charge of what was going on; that it appeared as though the shorter shooter took the lead and the taller one would follow him.

He heard the shorter gunman say: "The cops are outside." and then both shooters ran toward the west windows, where they began shooting out at the police. As they moved toward the windows, the gunmen lit bombs and threw them. After they shot out the windows, the taller of the two announced: "All the jocks with white caps stand up." Daniel, who was wearing a white hat, started to stand up -- he told investigators that he thought the gunmen had already seen him because the desks had no chairs to hide behind, leaving the people hiding under it mostly exposed. He didn't want the gunmen to shoot the other people hiding under the table with him but Makai restrained him, telling him: "Don't move." Daniel stayed where he was.

The fire alarm was going off and people became very quiet at that time. He could hear the shooters laughing; they began shooting at people again and threw more bombs. Daniel saw them return to the backpacks they'd set on a nearby table - he thought they might be reloading their weapons. Daniel saw Dylan look directly at him, smile, and then lift the sawed-off shotgun he held and fired directly at Daniel's table. Daniel was hit in the left knee - he noticed it as a sensation of warmth. He also saw that Makai had been hit in the right leg and it looked "torn up". Patrick Ireland reached over to help Makai and Daniel heard another shot and saw Patrick go down; he had been shot in the head. Both gunmen were shooting at the time so Daniel wasn't sure who had shot Pat.

Daniel fell to the floor where he lay with his head down, playing dead. As all three boys lay on the floor, unmoving, a small bomb rolled under their table and landed on Daniel's right upper thigh. The fuse was burning but Daniel was afraid to move as he didn't want the gunmen to shoot at the table again. Makai grabbed the bomb and threw it out, toward the south wall. It exploded midair, loud enough to shake the floor. Daniel shut his eyes then and kept them closed.

He then heard one of the gunmen say: "Stand up, nigger boy." and heard them both laughing, but he didn't look up to see what was happening. He heard another gun shot. He then heard one of them say: "Let me see your kife. I've always wanted to do this." He then heard one of them say: "Oh, that's gross!" and heard them both laugh again.

It got quiet in the library then; he could still here bombs going off but they sounded further away - possibly in the library. Daniel looked around then and saw people getting up and moving toward the west door. Makai told him "Let's go." and he, Makai, and the girl got up and left. Daniel told investigators that he felt bad that he didn't help Patrick. He knew Pat was still alive when they got up to leave the library. He was treated for a shotgun blast to the leg; he took five pellets to the knee and one to the chin. He was released before April 24, 1999. Daniel graduated Columbine on May 20, 2000.

Kacey Ruegsegger, 17 in 1999.
Kacey was in the library reading when the shooting began. When the call went out for everyone to get down, Kacey hid under one of the small tables in the southern bank of computer tables, and pulled a chair in front of herself. One of the gunmen stood in front of where she was hiding and told everyone with a white hat to get up so he could shoot them. They then shot an acquaintance of hers, Dan Steepleton.

She heard the gunmen make a racial slur to someone, something along the lines of: "Oh, a nigger. You're a dead black boy." When they shot the boy [later identified as Steven Curnow] who was hiding under the computer table next to her, she put her head down and covered her ears with her hands. She was then shot in the shoulder and when she cried out, the gunman who shot him told her to "stop your bitching". She lay down then and pretended to be dead.

Kacey remained under the table after the person who shot her moved away and she continued to hear bangs, some of which she thought were bombs exploding. After the gunmen left the room, two students tried to help her get out: [Craig Scott], brother to victim Rachel who was killed outside, and a girl, [Sarah Houy]. Kacey was unable to move quickly and was trampled by other students who were in a rush to leave the area. She managed to make it out of the building and to the police waiting outside, then was rushed off to the triage area.

Kacey had transferred to Columbine just months before the shootings because two of her friends had committed suicide and another had died of leukemia at her old school and her parents wanted her to be in a more positive environment. She suffered multiple injuries including a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, a through-and-through injury to her right hand that medical officials pulled a metal washer out of, and a gunshot graze on her neck. They pulled a shotgun wad out of her shoulder. At the hospital she was given at least two doses of morphine and was still in quite a bit of pain. A steel plate was put in her arm and she went through lengthy physical therapy. She was released from the hospital on May 1, 1999.

She went on to attend Colorado State University and had hopes of being an American Quarter Horse Association chapter champion in Denver once more, like she was before the shootings. As of April 2006, Kacey is fully recovered and happily married.

Michael Johnson, 15 in 1999.
Michael was outside the cafeteria with three friends: Denny Rowe, Mark Taylor, John Cook, and Adam Thomas. They were sitting on the grass near the stairs when the shooting began. At first Michael didn't know what was going on but he quickly realized bullets were hitting the ground near him and and his friends. He felt a sensation like someone had poured warm water on his left leg and he and his friends got up to run toward a shed that was about 120 yards from where they were at. As they ran, he heard Mark cry out: "Oh my God! I've been shot!" and the other boy fell to the ground.

As Michael continued running he felt another "warm feeling" on the back of his jaw and realized he'd been shot as well. He managed to make it as far as the shed; Denny, John, and Adam kept running and jumped the nearby fence. Michael laid down and propped himself against the shed and noticed the left leg of his blue jeans was covered in blood from mid-thigh down to his ankle. Michael remained there next to the shed for a while; at one point a teacher, Mr Lowery, came by and told him that he was going to get him some help. Soon after Michael heard what he thought was a pipe bomb exploding and lost consciousness for a bit. The next thing he knew, two students - Evan Todd and Ryan Barrett - were trying to help him. The next thing he remembered after that was being removed from the shed area by law enforcement who transported him to paramedics.

When asked by investigators, Michael told them he knew of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold but didn't actually have dealings with either one of them. He told investigators that he thought they were members of the Trench Coat Mafia but didn't really know anything about the group.

Michael was in intensive care for 8 days during which time doctors had to wire his jaw shut and repaired a ruptured blood vessel in his leg. He was released April 28, 1999.

Though doctors thought he might lose his leg at one point, today Mike can run and has held a job at the Mann Theater. His parents Kathy and Gary feel that though they've gone through a lot, the ordeal has made them closer as a family.

Patrick Ireland, 17 in 1999.
Patrick was in the library at the time of the attack, and was shot in the head. Because of this his initial reports to investigators were a bit confused: During the ambulance ride to the hospital he told officers that the gunmen wore masks, and that he was in the emergency room when he was shot. He couldn't remember who he had been talking to or what he was doing when he was shot.

Investigators interviewed him again nearly a month later and he was able to relate more about what happened to him. Pat had gone to the library to get some homework finished, as he usually did. He typically sat with friends there during "A" lunch - that day was no exception. He sat down at a table where Corey DePooter and Austin Eubanks were already seated and was soon joined by Dan Steepleton and Makai Hall. A few minutes later he heard a teacher shouting that two kids had guns and that everybody needed to get down. He thought it was a joke at first but she kept telling them to get down and the fear in her voice convinced him she was serious. He ducked under the table with Makai and Dan; he didn't see where Austin and Corey went.

He heard the gunshots then, coming closer to the library and soon in the library. He put his head down and closed his eyes, held his breath and played dead. He heard one of the gunmen yell "Anybody with a white hat stand up!". Pat had been wearing a cap at that time but couldn't remember what it looked like or if he took it off after the gunman said that. He next heard the other one say "This is for all the shit you put us through." He heard gunfire but didn't open his eyes till the sound of it was quite close and he heard his friend Makai groaning in pain. He looked at Makai and saw blood flowing from the boy's right knee and more on Dan's foot. He moved between the two with the idea to provide first aid to Makai. He reached out to put his hand on Makai's wound to provide pressure and "blacked out" - he had been shot twice in the head and again in the foot, though he had no memory of being shot.

Pat passed in and out of consciousness for two hours in the library, the fire alarm finally waking him. His ears were ringing and he heard someone coughing - a sound that eventually stopped and didn't start again.


He wasn't feeling any pain at the time but knew he could only use his left arm left leg, and kept blacking out on his way to the window. However, he was eventually able to pull himself up onto the ledge. He heard someone outside yelling at him to "stay"; he was confused at the time but waited and a few moments later heard another voice yell to him that it was okay to jump. He leaned out the window and was caught by the SWAT team members who were waiting below, though Pat had no memory of being caught. His next recollection was that of being treated by emergency workers. He survived by pushing himself out of the window (which the shooters had destroyed while firing at police) where SWAT were forced to come get him else let him fall from the second story while news cameras were rolling. If he waited in the library for help he would likely have died.

He was treated for two gunshot wounds to the head and one to the right foot as well as a laceration to his right inner elbow. Later moved to Craig Hospital for spinal and cerebral rehabilitation. He returned to Columbine that fall, using a cane to help support his weight as he walked. On September 25, 1999 he was elected Columbine's homecoming king. He graduated from Columbine May 20, 2000 as a co-valedictorian.

Makai Hall, 19 in 1999.
Makai was sitting with his friends in the library when the shooting began. He was hiding under a table with Dan Steepleton and Patrick Ireland when the shooters entered the library. When they demanded that everyone with white hats stand up, he held back Dan, telling him: "Don't move." At one point Dylan came within line of sight of their table and, smiling, opened fire. Makai was hit in the knee by the shotgun blast. Pat moved to help him and was shot in the head. Pat was knocked unconscious; Makai and Dan played dead. Then Eric Harris threw a home-made C02 bomb that bounced under their table and landed on Dan's thigh. Dan was too afraid to move; it was Makai who reached over, grabbed it, and threw it back out from underneath the table where it exploded mid-air.

Three days after the tragic event he was interviewed by CNN. He was quite modest when asked to discuss his act of heroism. He also said that he knew Dylan from French class the previous year. They had worked on some class projects together. However, he never made eye contact with Dylan during the shootings.


He was treated for a shotgun wound to the right knee and shrapnel in the cheek. Underwent surgery and spent 3 days in the hospital. He was released April 23, 1999. He graduated Columbine May 20, 2000.

Mark Taylor, 17 in 1999.
Mark had been attending Columbine for only three weeks when the shooting happened. A born-again Christian, he was exchanging ideas with Mormon students while waiting for the lines in the cafeteria to get shorter. He was between the cafeteria entrance and the parking lot (near where Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo sat eating lunch) when Eric and Dylan opened fire. Spotting the two shooters at the top of the stairs, at first he thought they were shooting paintball guns.

He quickly became one of the first people to be shot. He was bending over when unbelieveable pain burst through his upper left body. He saw blood oozing from a hole in his thigh and started crying out "'Oh my God! Help me!" Lungs collapsed, he fell to the ground and played dead, trying to lay as still as possible while fighting to breathe. He was hit several more times (twice in the chest and five times in the back) while laying there. As he watched, Eric went over to where Rachel lay bleeding and shot her again as she tried to get up. Other students trampled him in their attempt to flee from the gunmen, thinking him dead. Eventually an officer showed up and dragged Mark to safety behind the nearby shed.

Four of the eight bullets were left in him: Two near his aorta and two in his spine. He was released April 30, 1999. Later re-admitted to Littleton Adventist for treatment of a staph infection in the wounds in his lungs. Was in and out of the hospital three times.

He never returned to Columbine, enrolling in Dove Christian School instead with the words: "I don't want to go back there. I don't want to go back to that kind of surroundings anymore." The True Vine did an interview with Mark after he was healed. Later he and his family created a "Ten Commandments Bear" to honor those who died during the massacre. He sued Solvay Pharmaceuticals, saying that their anti-depressant Luvox® made Eric Harris psychotic and violent. His family also sued Eric Harris's parents.

Later he appeared in Michael Moore's 2002 documentary film 'Bowling for Columbine' with Richard Castaldo and Brooks Brown. Together they successfully lobbied against K-mart to stop selling to minors the kinds of bullets that he still had inside his body. Interviews with Mark later regarding the film hold that he wasn't entirely clear on what the movie would be about before he agreed to be in it. He claimed that Moore used him and other Columbine victims for his own purposes then discarded them. In Mark's own words:


More recently Mark published his own book about his experiences on April 20, 1999: I Asked, God Answered: A Columbine Miracle.

Brian Anderson, 17 in 1999.
Brian was inside the school, heading for the west entrance with a few friends when he saw two teens standing just inside the first set of double glass doors. He recognized Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and noticed that both were holding guns. When a teacher he didn't know (Patti Nielson) asked him what was going on, he told her he though that they were carrying prop guns and he proceeded to head out of the building with her close behind. He had just passed through the first set of double doors when Eric turned and fired on him, breaking the glass door behind him. Fragments of glass hit him and he fell backwards but got up quickly. The other students who were with him quickly retreated back into the school, heading for the library. Brian and Patti, also injured when the doors shattered, soon followed.

He saw Patti crawl under the circulation desk to use the phone and heard her shout at the room for everyone to get down. Brian, his friends, and another teacher, Peggy Dodd, hid in the storage room of the library. They locked the door and turned the lights off. Shortly after, he heard several gunshots and 10 to 15 explosions. There was a small window in the door through which Brian could partially see the library and Brian saw Dylan run past it several times, and Eric a few times. He only saw those two and assumed from that, that there were only two shooters in the library.

While they were hiding in the storage room, Peggy Dodd said: "I have to get out of here, Brian. They hate me. They're going to kill me." She left the storage room then. Brian and the others were able eventually to leave the storage room through an interior door. They were eventually escorted from the building, to safety.

When investigators asked Brian why he thought Eric shot at him, Brian told them "because I was wearing a white hat" and explained that many of the school's athletes wore white hats to school. Brian had had previous interaction with the gunmen before 4-20 and they had asked him 2-3 weeks before the shootings to help them find a website where they could find sound effects for a video they were making that involved a house under seige by gunmen but Brian was unable to help them. Police also contacted Brian to ask him if he knew the three individuals who had been arrested near Clement Park. Apart from having been on Sally Jesse Raphael's talk show with them following the shootings, Brian had no previous contact with them. Brian said he didn't believe they were involved in what had happened, after talking with them at the show.

Treated for injuries sustained from bullet fragments bouncing off a shattering window when Eric shot through the double-paned west-entrance doors. He was released April 20, 1999. He graduated from Columbine May 20, 2000.

Nicole Nowlen, 16 in 1999.
Nicole had been attending Columbine for only seven weeks before the shooting. She was assigned to "A" lunch but usually spent it in the library or an empty classroom so she could do homework. She went to the library that day, and found an empty table to sit at. Aboyt 5 to 10 minutes later she heard some banging noises that she thought was the librarian working on something. Nicole then saw two students come in, a male (Brian Anderson) and a female. The female asked for Ms Keating (the librarian) loud enough to attract Nicole's attention, then said that the boy with her had been shot. Nicole thought it was a senior prank until she heard a woman who was on the phone (Patti Nielson) shouting for everyone to get under the tables. She repeated this several times. No one seemed terribly concerned at the time but since others were starting to comply, Nicole did so too.

After a couple of minutes she could hear the distinct sound of gunshots in the hall and screams from downstairs. She also heard two explosions that shook the floor and heard the fire alarm go off. She saw one of the gunmen walk past the library window (Dylan) but didn't know who he was. Glancing over at another table, she saw a boy there whom she didn't know (John Tomlin) and told him what she'd seen. Noting that his table seemed to have better concealment from the library entrance, she asked him if she could hide with him. John checked the library entrance then waved her over. She crawled over and they pulled chairs in around themselves for better concealment.

As the sound of gunfire got closer John held her hand to comfort her. Twice she started to say something but he motioned her into silence both times. She then heard a male voice demand: "Everybody get up". She could hear the gunmen "whooping and hollering" and laughing, along with several gunshots and at least one explosion. It sounded to her as though the shooters were really having fun. She heard the girls at a table near hers start to scream loudly and "really freak out". She then heard one of the gunmen ask "Do you believe in God?" and a female answer first "no" and then "yes" in a way that Nicole thought she was trying to make sure she wouldn't get shot. The conversation was followed by more shots.

Shortly after Nicole saw black boots [Eric Harris] near her table and almost immediately after she saw a gun pointed under the table. It fired and wood from the chair splintered, spraying at her and imbedding splinters in her back. She was struck in the abdomen by something, though she didn't know at the time whether she was shot or if it was something else (in the hospital it was determined she was hit with buckshot from the shotgun). She saw John try to jump out from under the table on the far side from the gunman to avoid being hit by a second shot and landed on his stomach on the floor beside her. The gunman [Dylan Klebold this time] moved around the table and, standing over John, shot him in the head. Her legs were touching his at the time and she felt his legs start shaking, as though he were having convulsions. After a brief moment his body went still.

The gunman moved around the table to where he'd been when he first opened fire on their table and asked "Are you still breathing?". She didn't know who he was talking to; to be safe she lay very still with her eyes closed and pretended to be dead. At that point she lost consciousness.

When she came to, she could hear the fire alarm. She could hear what she thought was more gunshots, but further away; not in the library. She could hear people moving and realized they were leaving. She cried out for help several times but no one came to assist her. Eventually she pulled herself up with the help of the nearby table. Seeing another female student nearby [Patti Blair], she asked her to help. The other girl didn't move, either to help her or to leave, and Nicole realized the girl was waiting for her. Nicole was able to make her way over to Patti and they both left the library, and were able to escape the school. She was taken by officers on scene to the cul-de-sac where triage had been set up and from there was transported to the hospital.

Nicole was hit with nine pieces of buckshot. Three were through-and-through; doctors were able to remove only one of the remaining six. The other five are still in her stomach. She was released April 21, 1999.

Her father had attended Columbine and when she moved to Littleton to live with him, she chose to attend the school he had gone to. She had been going to Columbine for 6 weeks when the shootings happened. She went back to Columbine after she recovered, refusing to let Eric and Dylan "win" by chasing her out of her school. She took on a part-time job at an appliance store in her junior year. She currently does reach-out work for the Rachel's Challenge movement.

Nicole's website: read her story in her own words.
Letters to Nicole from the gunmen's families
Nicole's Rachel's Challenge blog
Nicole's MySpace page.

Evan Todd, 15 in 1999.
A couple of weeks before the shootings, Evan noticed that someone had superglued cardboard over several of the doors leading into the school. They remained that way for a couple of days before they were removed. Other than this, which he thought might have been a senior prank, he didn't notice anything unusual that would give him any idea of what was to come.

On April 20 Evan was supposed to meet with Ryan Barrett to run during their free time on orders from Coach Lowery. Evan went to the library to find Ryan as he knew Ryan regularly went there during "A" lunch. On entering, he saw a girl he knew there - Sarah Houy - and waved to her. He saw other people he knew there as well: Matt Kechter, Craig Scott, Makai Hall, Dan Steepleton, and Pat Ireland. Eventually he found Ryan at one of the computers and the two of them talked about how they'd both forgotten they were supposed to run during their free period. They decided they would tell the coach they'd done it then would make up the run after school. Ryan then went to pick up something from the printer and at the time he returned, Evan heard a big boom from somewhere outside the library. Soon after he heard several shots fired and more explosions.

He went over to the west windows then and, looking out, saw a flash in the parking lot near space #129 (the space his brother usually parked in; Evan's brother wasn't in school that day). The black car in the space soon had smoke all around it. He then saw kids on the soccer field running. He then heard someone outside shout "Look at this fucker's head!" and another loud voice respond: "This is awesome!" - he couldn't see who was shouting but he heard a shotgun blast outside soon after.

A few moments later Evan saw Ms. Nielson enter the library and went behind the main counter, yelling for everyone to get down. He heard her say "There's kids with guns" and noticed she looked to be injured. She got on the phone then and, seeing other students complying with her commands, Evan moved behind a pillar to hide. Soon after he heard two bombs in the hallway followed by multiple gunshots and a shotgun blast. He looked around the pillar and saw Eric Harris out in the hall, someone he saw almost every day at school. Eric was carrying a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and something that looked sort of like dynamite, one end lit. Eric threw it and soon after Evan heard another explosion.

Evan lost sight of Eric for a few seconds during which he heard a few more shotgun blasts. When he peeked around the pillar again, Evan saw him standing directly in front of the library doors. They made eye contact and Eric chambered a round in his pump-action shotgun. He aimed toward Evan and fired a round into the library. Evan ducked low and behind the nearby copy counter to the north of the circulation desk, where the copy machine was. Eric fired another round, splintering the wood of the copy counter and injuring Evan.

The library began to fill with smoke and the fire alarm went off. He heard more shots being fired and could hear voices as the two gunmen moved into the library, coming toward where he was hiding. Evan decided to move to a large open space under the main counter where he hid. He could hear one of the shooters say "All jocks stand up". He also heard them make a racial slur toward someone and fire more shots, after which the gunmen cheered. He then heard one of them say "wow, look at this nigger's brains!" to which the other responded: "Yeah, we've never seen nigger's brains before." Realizing people were definitely being shot, Evan pulled one of the nearby chairs in front of himself to provide better concealment.

Moments later he heard several more shots further into the library and heard a girl scream. During an interview with investigators Evan told them that he thought he heard a girl named Cassie screaming "Please God, save me! God help me!" but when they asked him how he knew who it was, he told them the only reason he thought so was because he had heard on recent news reports that's what her name was.

Evan then heard one of the gunmen ask "Do you believe in God?" and after the girl affirmed her belief, he heard the gunman respond: "God is gay." Evan said he heard the girl say "Go with God and you'll be saved" and then heard more gunfire. After several more shots were fired, Evan saw Dylan Klebold come around the counter where Evan was hiding. Evan also knew Dylan because he'd seen him around school almost every day. He told investigators that he was positive it was Dylan because he was face to face with him at that moment. His impression of Dylan was that of a clown: his black backward ball cap seemed tight on his head, making his curly hair seem to stick out the way a clown's might.

He saw Dylan check the magazine room, testing the door (which was locked) before turning to the room directly east of the magazine room. He "swept the room with his Tec-9" and then turned to head back in the direction where Evan was hiding. He pulled the chair out and pointed the Tec-9 in Evan's face, saying "Oh look what we have here.". Evan could see Eric approaching as well, and noticed it looked as though Eric had a broken nose. He appeared a bit dizzy and wobbly; he was having to "catch his balance". In response to Dylan's statement Eric asked: "What?" to which Dylan replied: "Just some fat fuck."

With the gun still in Evan's face, Dylan asked: "Are you a jock?". Evan answered: "No." and Dylan said: "Well, that's good. We don't like jocks." He paused then, adding a moment later: "Let me see your face." Evan took off his hat then and tilted his head back so Dylan could see him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you," Dylan told him. Evan's response: "I don't want to get in trouble." He had no idea why he said that but the answer seemed to make Dylan angry. "Trouble?" Dylan demanded. "You don't even know what fucking trouble is!"

Evan hastily tried to clarify his comment. "That's not what I meant! I mean, I don't have a problem with you guys. I never will and I never did." Dylan stared at him for a moment then looked away, saying: "I'm gonna let this fat fuck live, you can have at him if you want to." Eric didn't seem to be paying any attention to what Dylan was saying and never acknowledged him, saying instead: "Let's go to the commons."

The moved to leave then, though Dylan paused long enough to grab a chair and smash it down on a computer that was sitting atop the counter. Both shooters left the library then; Evan never saw them again. Soon after, though, he heard the sound of explosions somewhere in the halls. Evan moved to the RNN (Rebel News Network) studio room, afraid the shooters might come back and confront him again. He first hid behind a curtain but, feeling less than secure there, moved to hide under the news desk. After a couple of minutes he heard what sounded like a stampede and looked up to see several people fleeing the library. It didn't look like they were being chased though so Evan abandoned his hiding place and fled with them. Outside the building he ran to a nearby police car where he was reunited with Ryan Barrett among the 30-40 other students already there.

Ryan and Evan were directed by officers to hide behind a nearby shed and when they and a few other students repositioned themselves there Evan found a boy he knew, Mike Johnson, already there and covered in blood. Mike complained that his feet were going cold. Evan held Mike's hand and tried to reassure him. As he sat there more students arrived, including one girl that looked as though she was missing her shoulder and another that looked to be shot in the stomach. As they hid there a train of several police cars pulled up and began shuttling the students away. Evan told officers that there were two suspects, one armed with an "uzi" and the other had a sawed-off shotgun and that they possibly had bombs.

Eventually Evan, Ryan, and Mike were shuttled from the scene and taken to a cul-de-sac where several other people were being provided with first aid. He and Ryan remained there only briefly before leaving by foot to walk to Ryan's home which was nearby. Evan called his parents from there and was picked up by his brother and taken home. Evan was never taken to the hospital but he did go to a nearby clinic where he was treated for abrasions to the eye and back from the splintering counter. He was released the same day.

Evan was the last of the survivors to be identified; he was listed in Littleton papers as 'Unnamed Boy'. He returned to Columbine when he was well enough and went on to play for the Columbine Rebels' state championship football team. He also held a 27-10 wrestling record on the varsity squad and made Eagle Scout in 2000. He was last planning to attend college and pursue a career as a federal law enforcement officer.