Preventable Tragedy: Overlooked Warning Signs in the Columbine Shooting

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On “April 20, 1999”, Littleton, Colorado was forever changed (Larkin 4). Students of Columbine High School, Eric Harris, eighteen, and Dylan Klebold, seventeen, opened fire in the school at 11:19 a.m. (Larkin 4). Thirteen people were killed and more than twenty others were injured (“Columbine High School Shooting” 1). “The crime was the worst high school shooting in U.S. history” (1). The Columbine Shooting was one of the most violent and tragic shootings that could have possibly been prevented if the previous misdemeanors of Klebold and Harris would have been acknowledged by others around them. The two Columbine students had a history of being in trouble. The crimes they committed prior to the shooting should have been red flags for the parents, teachers, and law enforcement …show more content…

Authorities found where the pair made home videos prior to the attack where they made references to what they were going to do and apologizing to their parents for it (CNN Wires 1). Investigators discovered that Harris and Klebold had been planning to carry out the attack on Columbine High School for a year (“Columbine High School Shooting” 3). They wanted the attack to be similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings (3). During the investigation of the shooting, investigators interviewed witnesses. “They are really strange, but I’ve never seen them do anything violent” said classmate Jason Greer (NY Daily News 3). Later in the investigation, investigators discovered that Mark Manes was the man who sold a gun to Eric Harris and bought him one hundred rounds of ammunition the day before the murders occurred (“Columbine High School Shooting 5). Manes was sentenced to six years in prison (5). Some victims and families of those killed in the shooting filed a lawsuit against the school and the police (5). Most of these suits were dismissed later in court (5). The Columbine High School reopened from the tragedies in the fall of 1999

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