Introduction to Echoes of Columbine (Start Here)

I am a mother of 3, from Colorado, USA. I am also a writer, researcher, and Colorado certified victim’s advocate. I began researching school shootings in 2007, just after the Virginia Tech Shooting. At first, I was just toying with the idea of writing a book about a school shooter. Seeking realism I spent what would become the next ten years digging into these massacres.

Though I vowed to keep an open mind and put all preconceived notions about my research into school shootings aside, I was shocked to find my views on many things challenged with each new case I studied. 

I had to change what the “typical” school shooter looked like in my head. I had to look at the role of parents, schools, courts, and even the media in a new way. Why were the shooters overwhelmingly male? Why were the shooters mostly American? How big of a role did guns really play? And most of all where there holes in the system that could be plugged? 

What I learned in a nutshell, is that creating a school shooter is a lot like baking a cake. You can’t just put flour and eggs in a bowl and wake up the next day to a cake. It takes many ingredients, a bit of time, and a few chemical reactions. It also takes a heat source to set the whole thing off. 

There is no such thing as a typical school shooter, but there are patterns. Many of them. It has been 19 years since Columbine. The shootings have become more frequent. The news coverage more shocking. The death tolls have climbed. 

This website used to be known as “Lessons from Columbine,” but I no longer own the domain. I let it go after several years because it didn't seem like anybody cared. I was wrong, the information is still important and will keep being important until we are school shooting free. 

#NeverAgain

Much of this is republished and updated, from there we will go on together. I chose the title “Echoes of Columbine” this time because we failed to learn the lessons of Columbine and now almost 20 years later we are still hearing its echoes. 

One word about agendas. I’ve no patience for them. I have worked very hard to look at the big picture and I ask you to do the same. I have worked very hard to set my own emotions aside, and I ask you to do the same. Please not come here just to push a one sided agenda, I have no interest and I will not subject readers to it. Keep your conspiracy theories to yourself, they do not help the discussion and will NOT be tolerated. 

If your comments do not add to the discussion about the overall solution to mass shootings, they will not be published. If #NeverAgain is going to happen, we need real discussions about real solutions. 

     Thank you for being here.