Dylan Klebold Columbine Shooting Case Study

The Incident
As the smoke cleared and the bodies were counted, it appeared as if Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris had turned their hatred of fellow classmates into a killing spree no one could explain. Twelve students and one teacher were murdered and twenty students injured at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 before these two boys took their own lives. Although their plan had been to kill hundreds of people with guns and homemade bombs, what happened still shocked the community and the nation. After their deaths, light was shed on these two vicious young men who wrote in journals and made videos of their rise to fame by attacking those who, they felt, wronged them.
Family Background
Both Klebold and Harris were raised by good families. Both were second sons with older brothers. Both played sports when younger and seemed to be bright minded students, Klebold being in the Gifted and Talented program in Elementary. Klebold grew up

near Littleton, Colorado, it wasn’t until junior high that he met Eric Harris. The Harris family moved around quite a bit due to Eric’s father being in the Air Force. Both sets of parents were successful and shocked to find out about the hidden lives their sons had been living.
Personal History
Both young men enjoyed working with video productions at their school and spent many hours on computers.

Although Klebold was thought of as a shy person, Harris was quite the opposite and would often show fits of rage or anger towards others. As their friendship grew, they related on feeling like social outcasts and being fed up with jocks and christians at their school. Harris made good grades but his school work was often dark and mysterious. Although Klebold was considered bright, he did care about making good grades and also wrote essays featuring blood, death, and war. They started dressing differently, wearing long coats, dark clothes and boots, calling themselves, “The Trenchcoat Mafia.” They also starting learning the German language and became obsessed with all things Adolf Hitler. Just one month prior to their killing spree, Klebold, with his parents, toured and visited college dorms at the University of Arizona where he had recently been accepted. Just weeks before, he also attended prom with a female

friend.
Social Environment
In January of 1998, Klebold and Harris were arrested for breaking into a vehicle and stealing. They were placed on a juvenile program where they paid fines, attended anger management classes, did community service and attended counseling. The program was completed by both and all charges were dropped in February of 1999. It is believed that sometime after the initial incident is when the two began planning their massacre, referred to, by these boys, as “Judgement Day” although their journal entries, dated 1997, included writings of hate, anger and killing mankind. They began to obtain firearms, make pipe bombs and videos of themselves discussing their plot which included targeting jocks, other races, and good girls. It appears, as read in their diaries found after the massacre, that they believed their attack would bring them fame as well as settling the scores with those they felt wronged by.
Mental Health Profile
Both Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris shocked their parents and their community with their secret life discovered after their crime spree. Harris was taking medicine for depression and went through anger management classes after his arrest. Klebold often wrote in his journals about suicidal thoughts, wanting to die, go on killing sprees and disappointment over not having a romantic relationship, but never was seen for any mental concerns. In July, 1999, working with several psychiatrists, the FBI put together a report that said Harris was a clinical psychopath and Klebold was depressive. They also believed Harris was the mastermind and autopsy confirmed an antidepressant in his bloodstream. No medications were found in Klebold’s system.