Echoes of Columbine

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...

When studying these boys one sees a certain superiority complex over and over. On the surface it appears to be narcissism, but I do not to believe it to be so. Mass shooters often held a vision of themselves as being higher than others, some even referring to themselves as godlike. In the public writings they referenced natural selection, and a feeling of being above normal human beings. They had become so cynical about life that they saw their lack of emotion or feeling towards their fellow human beings as a sort of a gift. They had freed themselves of a conscience, but when I read their more private writings it was clear they really hadn't. Were they trying to convince us they were god, or were they trying to convince themselves? Over and over these boys wrote about being godlike. It was almost a mantra. Jeffery Weiss was self professed Native American Nazi on a white supremacy board, who professed hatred as a mantra. He turned around on supernatural board and said that he...

When the line between fantasy and reality blurs One of the first issues to get resurrected shortly after a new shooting is the topic of violence in the media. We can't deny that movies and video games have grown increasingly violent, it is becoming more and more difficult to locate a true family movie. Yet hundreds of thousands of people play the same games, watch the same movies, and read the same books and none of them committed such horrific acts. Mass shooters were all attracted to violent media in some form. Early on they cited Richard Bachman's short story "Rage" as an influence. "Rage" was the story of a frustrated by taking his classroom hostage, and emerging the hero among his classmates. After it copies of his book were found in the possession of several of the first school shooters, not only highlighted copies but very well worn. Bachman's creator Stephen King pulled the book from print, stating "The ------- incident was enough for ...

It wasn't until I began this project that I realized many of these shootings were committed in small towns or suburbs. They often describe the places school shootings happen as close-knit communities in news reports, but what does that phrase really mean? Violence at school has long been considered an city problem. Small town America always felt somehow immune from these problems but in the 1990's all of that changed. I looked around at my own small town and it was just unthinkable that such a tragic event could happen here, that a child could slip under the radar when we all seem to know what our neighbor had for breakfast last Sunday. It turns out that many sociologists believe that is actually a big part of the problem. In a small town people are more concerned with maintaining the status quo. We may see or hear of danger signs but we are less likely to act on it. Too many personal connections can be both a blessing and a curse. We not only know the child, but we k...

In almost all cases these boys felt as if they were separate from the rest of the world. They were misunderstood at home, they were teased at school. As a result they began to develop an "it's me against the world" mindset. They fail to understand that image isn't everything. They felt they had no friends. they felt they had no support, and they felt like things would never change for them. You notice that I say they "felt." In many cases it seems they were not as alone as they imagined themselves to be. After the fact many had friends or acquaintances come forward who had no idea the boy felt that isolated and alone in the world. Perception is 9/10th of our reality. They felt alienated, even when they weren't. This became their reality. Whether they were alone in life or not, these boys felt alone. In most cases, they had a severely damaged self-image. Many of them would have gone on to lead happy and successful lives. They would have gotten marri...

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...

When does a boy become a man? We are one of the very few societies without a rite of passage. There is no clear line between childhood and adulthood for most American youth. In most societies a boy was introduced to manhood around the age of 12 or 13. Here 18 is old enough to go to war and die for your country, but not old enough to legally drink a beer. As modern Americans our culture is one of few that does not offer a clear cut line to define where childhood ends, and where manhood begins. We have several stepping stones. Turning 13, turning 16, getting their drivers license, turning 18, going off to college, turning 21. Is it any wonder our American boys are confused? We live in a society that places a great deal of emphasis on the image of masculinity with no clear but lines on what that actually means. As far as school shooters, almost none of these boys fit into the traditional male image. They were small for their age, often thin, they were not ladies men, and in many...