Littleton Massacre

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Littleton Massacre 1

Running head: LITTLETON MASSACRE

The Littleton Massacre

Charles Heiskell Kope

Violence and Society Term Paper

University of California, Irvine

11 March 2010




The Littleton Massacre

On April 20, 1999 at around 11:15 in the morning, two Columbine High School students, 18 year-

old Eric Harris and 17 year-old Dylan Klebold, walked inside of their school s cafeteria, placed two duffel

bags, each containing a twenty-pound propane bomb, at the base of the ceiling support beams and set

the timers. The bombs were intended to detonate at around 11:17; the time which Eric Harris earlier

determined the cafeteria to be at the maximum human density. Harris and Klebold exited the cafeteria

after setting the timers and then went back outside to their cars to wait for the explosions. Their plan

was to detonate the cafeteria and kill as many students as possible before shooting any survivors exiting

into the parking lot. Their goal: cause as much chaos and damage as possible.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold appeared to be ordinary high school students on the outside;

earning good grades while still finding time to work part-time and hang out with friends (Cullen, 2010).

Videos show Harris and Klebold shooting videos for their film class, and even starred on the Columbine

High School cable channel, Rebel News Network. Everyone saw Harris and Klebold as average (Sheperd,

2010). All of that changed when the two boys entered their high school dressed in military style attire

and each carrying a sawn-off shotgun and a nine millimeter gun (Columbine, 2002). After the rampage,

investigators would find hundreds of rounds of ammunition and about a hundred explosives on the

bodies of the shooters as well as in their homes and vehicles (Columbine, 2002). How anyone could

predict that the boys would go on a murder spree killing twelve of their fellow classmates and one

teacher as well as themselves was just as difficult of a question as asking what drove the boys to do it.

Almost eleven years after investigating the evidence left behind by Harris and Klebold, -

including video footage, journals, books, and websites - forensic psychologists, local law enforcement,

and federal investigators all agree that there is no single reason that the boys decided to go on a murder

spree. Forensic psychologists have performed detailed psychological autopsies of the shooters minds

through the analysis of the video footage, writings, mental health and criminal records, and interviews




of friends and peers. The most recent research regarding Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold conclude that

each boy had a mental disorder that contributed to their role in the massacre. Eric Harris was classified

as a clear-cut psychopath. During his lifetime, however, Harris was receiving treatment for depression

and was currently taking the antidepressant fluvoxamine maleate, commonly known as Luvox. Dylan

Klebold was diagnosed as having major depressive disorder and was suicidal (Cullen, 2010).

There were many contributing factors to the Littleton Massacre, and many opportunities to

prevent it. Some of the key issues believed to be of great importance in the stages leading up to the

massacre are the easy access to weapons, violence in the media, mental disorder, prescription drugs,

bullying, and improper parental monitoring. Michael Moore popularized certain myths about

Columbine, such as the involvement of Marilyn Manson and the problem with weapon and ammunition

control (Moore, 2002) and created a movement that cried out for answers regarding the massacre with

the production of his film, Bowling for Columbine . While many of these hypothesized factors likely

contributed to the massacre, many are a product of poor eyewitness testimony and the media circus

that surrounded the events at Columbine High School.

Shooting at Columbine High School

At the time of the shooting, the Columbine High School Massacre was known as the deadliest

school shooting in American history. As of the date of this writing, the only violent episode on a school

campus to have more casualties than the Littleton Massacre is the Virginia Tech Shooting, which claimed

the lives of 32 students. The Littleton Massacre was planned for over a year by Eric Harris and Dylan

Klebold, and was intended to rival the Oklahoma City Bombing. The death toll was intended to be over

500; thirty-three times that which actually occurred (Cullen, 2010).

Shortly before lunch on April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold arrived on campus in separate

vehicles. As Harris unloaded his vehicle, Brooks Brown walked up to Eric and asked why he missed a very

important exam that day. Harris simply replied It doesn t matter anymore. Brooks, I like you now. Get




out of here. Go home. (Sheperd, 2010). Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their school cafeteria and

planted two twenty-pound propane bombs. As of 11:17 in the morning, Harris and Klebold were at their

posts in the parking lot waiting for the bombs to detonate. Their goal was to shoot at survivors running

from the building as they exited the cafeteria. Thankfully, the propane bombs failed to detonate due to

faulty and crude wiring. With their first plan labeled a failure, Harris and Klebold enact plan B.

Communicating with hand signals across the parking lot, Harris and Klebold approach the school fully

armed. As they near the entrance, they spot the first signs of students and begin to open fire. Rachel Joy

Scott was the first to be hit and was killed instantly. Within seconds, Rachel s friend, Richard Castaldo,

was shot and paralyzed as he realized Rachel had been shot (Cullen, 2010). At this point, the students

outside see and hear the shooters but believe what they are doing is a senior prank. Rather than running

for their lives, students begin to look towards the shooters to watch what they thought would be an

entertaining show and harmless prank (Sheperd, 2010).

Harris and Klebold then moved to the entrance, shooting at everyone they could see on the

way. As they came up to the entrance, Patti Nielson, a teacher at Columbine, spotted the boys outside.

To Nielson, it appeared as though the boys were shooting a video with fake guns as props, and were

being entirely too loud and distracting. As Nielson approached the boys to tell them to quiet down,

Harris and Klebold took aim at the entrance and fired. Nielson and another student were hit with

fragments of glass and buckshot from the shotgun blast (Cullen, 2010). At this moment, Patti Nielson

knew that the boys were not filming a video and the guns they were carrying were not props. Nielson

then ran up to the library and dialed 9-1-1.

The boys then entered the school and began shooting at everyone they could see. They moved

from the downstairs cafeteria, up to the second floor, and made their way to the library where over fifty

students were inside studying. At this moment, Patti Nielson was still on the line with 9-1-1, and the

operator was about to record the sound of the gunshots that would kill many students in the library.




Harris and Klebold mocked the students hiding under the tables, asking them to proclaim their faith,

and, in the end, shooting them. Harris and Klebold also took cover underneath a library window, and

fired at police on several occasions (Cullen, 2010).

When the killers finally left the library, they went down to the cafeteria to see what happened

with their propane bombs. They attempted to detonate the bombs by shooting at them and also by

throwing pipe bombs at them. When they failed to detonate, the shooters began walking around the

school. This was known as the quiet period; a time about twenty to thirty minutes long where the boys

simply wandered the campus without firing at any students or teachers. Finally, the boys went back to

the library, stood next to a row of books, and committed suicide by shooting themselves in the head

(Cullen, 2010).

E ric David Harris

Eric David Harris was the second child of Wayne and Kathy Harris, born in Wichita, Kansas on

April 9, 1981. Eric s father, Wayne, was active in the U.S. Air Force which required his family to relocate

often in order to follow work. The Harrises moved from Wichita, Kansas to Ohio, Michigan, and to

Plattsburgh, New York, before finally settling in Littleton, Colorado when Wayne retired from the Air

Force in 1993 (Sheperd, 2010). Moving around to follow his father s work required Eric to enroll in a

number of different schools. Whenever Eric would get comfortable with a new school and new friends,

he would be forced to leave, and had to s tart over from scratch. As a child, Eric was a normal, average

boy; he had friends, played little league, and was involved in the cub scouts. However, in his adolescent

years, Eric transformed his look from glasses and button-up shirts to wearing t-shirts bearing names of

German industrial bands and military style boots and pants (Sheperd, 2010).

Eric Harris met Dylan Klebold while attending Ken Caryl Middle School shortly after he moved to

Littleton. Eric and Dylan became close friends and engaged in many activities together, including

networking computers in order to play Doom, working at the same Blackjack Pizza, and getting into




trouble. Harris and Klebold would get drunk, smoke cigarettes, vandalize houses, and light off fireworks

at work together (Cullen, 2010). They soon graduated from petty vandalism to petty theft. Harris and

Klebold would steal items from construction sites, but that wasn t enough. In January, 1998, Eric and

Dylan were arrested and charged with a felony for breaking into a van and stealing electronic

equipment. Because both boys were first-time offenders and were never in any sort of legal trouble,

they were placed in a juvenile diversion program where, upon successful completion of the program,

they would have the felonies expunged from their criminal records. While Eric impressed the officer

responsible for monitoring the boys with a great attitude and by oozing remorse, Dylan showed that he

did not care, often got frustrated, and sometimes lashed out (Cullen, 2010). Regardless, as Eric was

released early from the program for outstanding and impressive behavior, Dylan barely managed to slip

by. Dylan was later released as well with recommendations to stay in school and live to his potential.

The diversion program was later associated with the trigger that led Eric and Dylan to begin planning the

massacre.

Harris was receiving treatment for anger management and mild depression prior to the

shooting. According to Harris self evaluation form (Appendix A), he was experiencing anger, anxiety,

homicidal thoughts, temper, racing thoughts, obsessive thoughts, jealousy, and problems with authority

figures. When asked to explain these symptoms, Harris responded Short temper, often got angry at

almost anything I don t like. Like people I have no respect for trying to tell me what to do. People telling

me what to think. I have too many inside jokes or thoughts to have very many friends. Or I hate to many

things. It was clear to Harris that his anger was not properly regulated and that he needed to seek

treatment for his issues (Columbine, 2002). Psychopathy is not a disorder in the Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth E dition, Text Revision , and therefore has no diagnostic

criteria. Current research provides a typology for the Psychopathic mass murderer. Psychopathic mass

murderers exhibit a lack of empathy, a sense of superiority and contempt for others, skill in impression




management, pleasure in deceiving others, and sadistic delight in torturing living creatures (Langman,

2009). Many of these symptoms Harris reported on his self-evaluation form as well as in his journal.

According to his journal, Eric Harris prided himself on his ability to fool people. He wrote that he could

get anyone to believe anything, and that he often lied for pure sport as well as keeping [his] ass out of

the water (Sheperd, 2010).

Dylan Bennet Klebold

Dylan Bennet Klebold was born to Tom and Sue Klebold on September 11, 1981 in Lakewood,

Colorado. Tom and Sue Klebold were both from Columbus, Ohio where Tom was a geophysicist and Sue

was a prominent member of the Jewish community (Sheperd, 2010). Dylan went to two different

elementary schools and was active in t-ball, soccer, and cub scouts. Dylan met Brooks Brown in first

grade, but lost touch with him after switching from Norman Elementary to Governor s Ranch

Elementary School. After Dylan s transition to Ken Caryl Middle School, he met Eric Harris and reunited

with his friend Brooks Brown. Eric and Dylan began hanging out and spending a lot of time together.

Dylan and Brooks Brown, son of Randy and Judy Brown, reconnected once they reunited at

Columbine. Harris, however, was not as friendly with Brooks Brown as Klebold was. One winter, Harris

threw a chunk of ice at Brooks car and broke the windshield. Brooks told his parents, who spoke with

Harris s parents. After the incident, Eric vented his rage on his website. Eric wrote of his intent to kill

Brooks, and also wrote about building and detonating pipe bombs. Brooks Brown received a tip about

the threats from Dylan Klebold. Randy and Judy Brown were the next to find out and brought ten pages

of Eric s website to the police to file a report. The officers promised to follow up and get a search

warrant, but failed to take action. After the incident with Eric and Brooks Brown, Eric and Dylan came

across a van on a back road filled with electronics (Sheperd, 2010).

After the January 1998 arrest of Harris and Klebold for the felony theft from the van, Harris and

Klebold began to plan the massacre. Over the next year and four months, Harris and Klebold would




record their personal thoughts in their infamous journals. Dylan Klebold s journals are filled with sadness

and despair. According to psychologists after the shooting, Klebold was suffering from major depression

(Cullen, 2010). He was suicidal, lonely, and longed to find the love of his life. What was stopping his was

the fact he had very low self-esteem, was shy, and did not develop good interpersonal skills (Cullen,

2010). Klebold falls into the category of Psychotic shooter, which come from a stable home life and have

no history of abuse (Langman, 2009). Klebold came from a happy, healthy home life with good parents

and no problems. His personality was a mystery to investigators until the 2006 release of entries from

his personal journal, which provided a clearer picture of Klebold s mindset. Klebold has also been

classified as schizotypal due to the fact he was strange, had disturbed thought processes, and misused

words in addition to creating new ones (Langman, 2009).

Unlike Harris, whose personality shined through his behaviors, Klebold was more of a mystery

due to his more complex personality. To this day, psychological professionals have not entirely figured

out the personalities of the shooters due to the fact a key piece of evidence is being withheld. The

mysterious basement tapes were filmed the day prior to the shooting and allegedly express the motives

behind the shootings and provide more insight into the minds of the killers (Cullen, 2010). Investigators

and families believe the release of the basement tapes would inspire a number of copycat killings, and

are very hesitant to release them. Perhaps with the release of the final chapter of this tragedy, all final

questions about the personalities of these two boys will be answered.

A nalysis

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold fit the criteria for mass murderers. A mass murderer is typically a

lone assassin in the same general area over a short period of time (Gresswell & Hollin, 1994). Gresswell

and Hollin (1994) give three types of mass murderers: pseudo-commandos, set and run killers, and

psychotic killers. Pseudo-commandos are young men who were obsessed with firearms (Gresswell &

Hollin, 1994). Harris and Klebold were very active players of the popular videogame, Doom. This is




mostly where they developed their strong interest in weaponry in addition to Harris s father being in the

military. Through violence in the media, such as the videogame, Doom, and films such as Oliver Stone s

N atural Born Killers, the boys became desensitized to violence (Novaco, 1998). They used firearms a

sawn-off pump-action shotgun, a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun, a nine millimeter carbine rifle, and a

nine millimeter automatic pistol and did so intending to be able to commit more murders. Set and run

killers are mass murderers who make their plan with the intention of escape (Gresswell & Hollin, 1994).

Harris and Klebold were originally intending to blow up the cafeteria and kill students as they fled from

the site of the blast. They had no original intentions to enter the school and murder students inside.

They even planted a diversionary bomb to distract law enforcement and fire officials in order to increase

the magnitude of the attack, and to provide a delay in the arrival of law enforcement so they could

continue their massacre (Columbine, 2002). This shows that they planned the attack so that they could

escape, but due to the faulty wiring, the boys plan was changed. A psychotic shooter is a shooter that

suffers from one of the spectrum disorders (Gresswell & Hollin, 1994). Dylan Klebold exhibited

symptoms of a spectrum disorder with his disorganized and disturbed thought processes and his strange

persona. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold fit all three of these categories of mass murderers throughout the

planning stages of their assault on their high school.

According to health care professionals and forensic psychologists, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

fit the criteria for mentally disordered offenders (Cullen, 2010). Eric Harris fit the typology for

psychopathy while Dylan Klebold fits the criteria for major depressive disorder (Columbine, 2002).

Although these mental disorders are not the sole cause of the massacre, the personalities of the two

boys seemed to mesh together in the perfect storm of circumstances that allowed each of them to feed

off the other, and provide support and encouragement for the massacre they were planning

(Columbine, 2002). The personality characteristics of the boys provided for them to commit mass

murder (Meloy et al., 2001).




P reventative or Therapeutic Intervention

There were many contributing factors to the Littleton Massacre, and many opportunities to

prevent it. Some of the key issues believed to be of great importance in the stages leading up to the

massacre are the easy access to weapons, violence in the media, mental disorder and prescription

drugs, bullying, and improper parental monitoring. While many of these hypothesized factors likely

contributed to the massacre, many are a product of poor eyewitness testimony and the media circus

that surrounded the events at Columbine High School. Another preventative intervention that did not

take place was that the first responders did not take action to subdue the shooters before they could kill

more people. ACT CERT is a program designed to train individuals as well as institutions on how to deal

with an act of violence (Stivi, 2010). ACT CERT stands for Attack Countermeasures Training Certification

and instructs people how to effectively deal with an active shooter or terrorist attack. The program

demonstrates how non-violent interventions can prevent violence, using technology for security, active

shooter trends, case studies, communication in emergency, terrorist desires in the outcome of an

attack, and how to safely subdue a perpetrator or escape a violent confrontation (Stivi, 2010). This

program is very beneficial for the prevention and response to acts of violence such as the Littleton

Massacre.

Another preventative measure that should be taken into account is to pay attention to warning

signs and follow up on reports of bad behaviors. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were arrested for

breaking into a van and were also reported to the police for death threats and the construction and

detonation of illegal improvised explosive devices. Had law enforcement followed up on these claims,

the boys would have been investigated, and the shooting would have likely been prevented. In addition,

a main cause of the Littleton Massacre has often been attributed to bullying and school victimization.

Changing the way school systems operate, investigate, and punish bullies is crucial for creating a warm




and welcoming environment for students, and provide a safe and effective way to end bullying

(Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2007).

Treatment Intervention

At the time of his death, Eric Harris was in the process of therapy for anger management and

depression and also had a prescription for Luvox to help manage his anger. He also completed the

juvenile diversion program as convincingly remorseful and reformed. Dylan Klebold also completed the

juvenile diversion program, but left with the recommendation to stay in school and work on acting to his

full potential. Dylan was currently not in treatment for depression or his suicidal and homicidal

thoughts, although he was currently taking St. John s Wort, which is used to treat major depressive

disorder. Eric Harris should have remained in treatment, but the likelihood of his improving is not very

high. Due to Harris s psychopathic mindset, he would continue to lie and manipulate his environment to

attain his goals as well as taking pride in the pain of others. There is no guarantee that therapy or

medication would provide beneficial to Eric Harris had he been given proper treatment for his current

condition.

Dylan Klebold could have been saved. Therapy and medication for major depressive disorder

would have likely proved beneficial to Klebold, and would have likely ended the disturbed thought

processes that caused him to go on the rampage. Cognitive behavioral therapy would have increased his

self-esteem and would have likely aided in his recovery. While in therapy and under the care of a

physician, Klebold would not have been able to take his own life as he did, and likely would have lived to

face his problems. The juvenile diversion program would have also proved beneficial to Harris and

Klebold had they been in the mindset to make use of their opportunity. Due to their knowledge that

they would not be alive to make use of their program, they were inhibited from performing to the best

of their ability and therefore did not gain from their experience.




References

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R.M. (2007). Social psychology . United States: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Columbine: understanding why [Television series episode]. (2002). Investigative Reports . A&E.

Cullen, D. (2009). Columbine . Twelve.

Gresswell, D., & Hollin, C. (1994). Multiple murder: a review. The British Journal of Criminology , 34 (1).

Langman, P. (2009). Rampage school shooters: A typology. A ggression and Violent Behavior , 14 , 79-86.

Meloy, J. R., Hempel, A. G., Mohandie, K., Shiva, A. A., & Gray, T. (2001). Offender and offense

characteristics of a nonrandom sample of adolescent mass murders. Journal of the A merican

A cademy of Child and A dolescent P sychiatry , 40 , 719-728.

Moore, M. (2002). Bowling for Columbine.

Novaco, R. W. (1998). Aggression. In H. Friedman (Ed.). E ncyclopedia of Mental Health (pp. 13-26). San

Diego: Academic Press.

Sheperd, C. (2010.). A Columbine site . Retrieved from http://www.acolumbinesite.com

Stivi, A. A ttack countermeasures training and certification . Retrieved from http://www.actcert.com/




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