Columbine victims | surviving Columbine 1, 2
Surviving the Columbine High School shooting
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Columbine students look to each other for support
Two students collapse, emotionally and physically exhausted
Students comfort each other after the shootings

Students and faculty who escaped Columbine High tried desperately to come to terms with what was happening in their school. Scared and confused, they helplessly waited for those as yet unaccounted for; hearing gunfire in the library and down in the field where sheriff's deputies were exchanging shots with the killers who were inside the building. For hours and, in some cases, days many wouldn't know if their loved ones were alive, injured or dead.

Nation-wide news stations broadcast what they could of the unprecedented violence at Columbine, stunning viewers all over the country and soon all over the world
Children or adult, man or woman, the tragedy affected everyone there that day
On the outside prayer and support groups formed
Those who were able to helped those who were injured
Matt Charmichael, a Columbine student, hugs his friend
Coping with the horror of the Columbine shootings
Many were overwhelmed by the tragedy they were living through
Friends share a desperate hug, relieved to find each other


Frustration went hand in hand with fear for most parents
Three anxious parents see one of the first busses arriving
A mother waits anxiously for news
Bill, Lorie, Jason, Kendra, and Kami Curry wait to find out information about the Columbine shootings and their family who were trapped inside the school
Worry, fear, and frustration plagued the Columbine parents
A father is reunited with his son
While some parents are fortunate enough to be quickly united with their missing children other parents are left waiting, growing more afraid by the hour
A mother comforts her daughter after their reunion
The parents of the students of Columbine High School were directed to go to Leawood Elementary School and the Littleton Public Library, which is where the children who had escaped were being bussed to. However, the busses didn't leave immediately and parents were left waiting in agonizing limbo to find out if their children were safe. No one could tell them anything apart from "wait". And wait they did. For hours. Some had to wait for days before they found out what happened to their sons and daughters, which hospitals they had been taken to or, worse, that their children were dead.
A father leads his upset daughter away from the horror A family gratefully reunited




Having found each other, father and son share a tearful moment



Those who were injured during the shootings received medical attention at one of four triage centers that were set up near the school. Over 160 people were treated for injuries that day, though not all of them were due to gunfire. 24 patients were transported to six different medical centers in Denver. 10 of the students were transported in the first hour after paramedics were able to treat them. The next 10 were transported by the second hour. The last four were taken out by 3:45 PM.

Students receive medical attention

Blood stains the driveway at the triage station
Bloody rags quickly piled up at the triage station near Columbine
Columbine victim Kacey Ruegsegger, injured by gunfire
Kacey Ruegsegger is triaged on Pierce Ave.
Paramedics load one of the more critically injured Columbine victims into an ambulance
Even the paramedics are disturbed by the unusual scene

Bloody shoes from one of the victims taken to this medical center

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