Columbine High School shooting archive - On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the lives of 13 victims and their own lives


est. 4 21 1999
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Surviving April 20, 1999 at Columbine
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The chaos and terror inside Columbine High School on the day of the shootings was horrifying for many. But once outside the survivors didn't have it much easier than those who were still trapped inside. The hours following the massacre were full of fear, emotional breakdown, pain and suffering. Parents, kids, teachers, medical personnel... they were the ones who had to pick up the shattered pieces of life outside of Columbine. They were the ones who had to wait anxiously for news about the welfare of others still trapped inside.

Many of the photos below have been scaled-down to speed load-time. The full-size images are incredibly heart-breaking and chilling; strangely, sizing them down somehow reduces some of the impact of intense emotion captured in them. I still find it hard to look at the full-size versions of many of them myself, though I've seen them often. Some photos are of victims receiving medical treatment and aren't for the faint of heart. Most are just plain heartbreaking.


This picture of Jessica Holliday would come to symbolize in media updates the suffering surrounding the tragic Columbine High School shootings.
Jessica Holliday and other students flee Columbine
Newsweek covers Columbine
A photo of Jessica Holliday along with other students of Columbine High
fleeing the school was turned into a cover for Newsweek later that same month.
Student Ashley Prinzi watches Columbine High
Student Ashley Prinzi tearfully
watches the school.
Upset students who escaped Columbine during the shootings
Traumatized students support each other
Students outside wait, pray and cry
When the assault began, people ran in any direction they felt was safe. Some chose better than others. Some ran and kept running: Several students interviewed later by investigators reported running home or to the houses of friends where they stayed and watched the news and called 911, family members and others about the event in progress. Several students, unsure where to go, hid in the surrounding neighborhood in alleys and behind houses, alone and in groups. Many didn't come out for several hours, afraid of being shot.

Escape down Pierce Ave
Teens escape down Pierce Ave
Columbine students return
Coming back from hiding in an alley behind the school.
More students return to Columbine High
More students who fled the school were rounded up and brought back from around the neighborhood to be taken to Leawood Elementary or the Littleton Public Library to be picked up by terrified parents.

Students waiting outside Columbine
Students cheer as others are freed from the school
Students embrace one another
Columbine students shed tears of joy
Teens wait anxiously outside of Columbine, fearing for those still inside. Tears of fear turn to ones of joy as friends are reunited.
Students and teachers escape from Columbine High School Teachers and students flee Columbine
Students and teachers freed from the staff
lounge & cafeteria restrooms run from Columbine.
Danny Rohrbough's body at the base of the stairs
Danny Rohrbough's body can be seen at the base of the stairs that lead to Columbine High School's west entrance.

Columbine students on buses
Columbine students on buses
Columbine students on buses
Students loaded onto buses watch Columbine, waiting to be taken to Leawood Elementary where their families await their safe return.
Columbine students on buses
Columbine students on buses
Columbine students on buses

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