Echoes of Columbine

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 crea...

If you came to Echoes of Columbine in search of a way to 100% positively identify a school shooter before the fact, you've come to the wrong place. Any group or person who clams they have any single identifier is just plain wrong. Currently, the only way to find them is to wait for them to hurt someone and then try to intervene as quickly as possible. That method is costing America dearly. Everyone has their pet cause of course. Many have blamed bullying, while just as many say it is easy access to guns. Others blame it on mental health issues. Violence in movies, music, and video games are favorite targets as well. Some say it is the media fascination with blood and anti-heroes. The copycat effect. Lack of parenting and failure to disciple. Weak school structures. Overcrowded classrooms. A godless society. Latchkey kids. Nobody seems to agree where the blame should go, and all of this finger pointing is wasting valuable time. They not only keep happening, but have increas...

In every mass shooting case you will find what professionals refer to as "leakage". The perpetrators leaked plans before the attack. It was as if they boiled over, or perhaps were testing the reaction. These kids told at least one other personally, usually more than one ahead of time. In some cases dozens of students knew about the plot beforehand, they even gathered to watch that morning just to see if it would really happen. Almost a year before Columbine, local law enforcement officers were handed death threats, detailed bomb making instructions, and even details on the bomb tests. This information was all housed on a personal website run by one of the perpetrators. Law enforcement even went as far as obtaining a search warrant... but failed to execute it. After the criminal investigation began, that information disappeared for a time, only to be retrieved by a reporter. Up to that point law enforcement denied it existed at all. Many of the witnesses questioned after...

A common thread in most school shootings is that many of the boys responsible specifically mentioned a lack of equality in the school hierarchy. They spoke of specific incidents where the "right" kids were able to get away with serious violations of school code. If they were punished at all, they were punished lightly. In the same situation, kids who had a lesser position in the school were dealt with harshly. Specific cases were cited where harassment was brought to the attention of or even witnessed by staff, but not dealt with accordingly. If you are interested in the personal perspective of the subject, you will find a great deal of information by reading "No Easy Answers" by Brooks Brown. Brooks was a friend of one of the Columbine High School shooters, though he did not get along with the other. Brooks seems to agree that, at least as far as Columbine went, there was some reason for perceptions of favoritism within the system. There is no way to really...

According to the Secret Service study, 71% of school shooters reported feeling "persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others," with some of the bullying classified as "long-standing and severe." Many of those who committed school shootings also targeted females to a large degree. Some were girls that did not return their affections, many whom they described as snotty and stuck-up. Columbine shooters journal entries specifically called some of these girls "Christian snobs." Real or not, it seems they felt rejected by these girls for one reason or another - socially, romantically, and even religiously. The Columbine school shooters planned what they considered their revenge for two years. They had started with desired "kill lists" but most of the people on the list had graduated the year before. It's clear that these boys did not "just snap." Their rage did not weaken or dissipate, and they continued with the...