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Schools Shooters: Understand High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators by Peter Langman

Myth #1: The Columbine killers planned a shooting spree inside the school.

Truth: Columbine was a failed bombing. Eric and Dylan planted a bomb inside the cafeteria and then went outside to wait for it to explode. Their initial plan was to shoot students who tried to escape the building in the aftermath. Only once the bomb failed to ignite they made their way inside to begin shooting students.

Myth #2: The Columbine killers targeted certain kinds of students.

Truth: Although initial news reports claimed the Columbine killers had targeted minorities, jocks, and christians, the killing was indiscriminate. Their initial plan was to blow up hundreds of students in the cafeteria. When the bombs failed to go off, they killed students randomly.

Myth #3: The Columbine situation was a hostage standoff.

Truth: It is true that news reports initially treated the situation at Columbine as a hostage standoff, perhaps due to the fact that police officers did not enter the building until more than 40 minutes after the shooting began. But the Columbine killers never planned to hold hostages. Their goal was total destruction, not particular demands. It took three hours for the SWAT teams to find the killers (3:15 p.m.). They had been dead since 12:08, just forty-nine minutes after the attack began.

Myth #4: There were no warning signs that could have prevented the Columbine massacre.

Truth: Other parents had complained about Eric Harris, multiple times. Both Eric and Dylan had been arrested before. Thirteen months before the shooting, investigators discovered evidence that Eric was building pipe bombs. Dozens of pages of obscene threats on the internet were also documented. The sheriff’s department covered up the initial evidence that signaled the threat.

Myth #5: Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott were martyred for their faith in God.

Truth: According to the eyewitness under the table with her, Cassie was shot when Eric poked his shotgun under the table and said, “Peek-a-boo.” The 911 tape verifies this testimony.

As for Rachel, there is no evidence that there was no verbal exchange about God between Rachel and her killer. As per Richard Castaldo’s (friend of Rachel’s who was having lunch with her at the time of the attack) testimony, “he does not recall all the noises he heard but that it was noisy and he remembers Rachel crying, and that he believed she was shot too.” He, regardless, does NOT recall Rachel talking to any of the shooters, nor someone mocking her for her beliefs. In fact, Richard advised the investigators he believed “the suspects were anywhere from 10 to 20 feet away from him and Rachel Scott.”

The “martyr” story arose from the testimony from another student in the library, Craig Scott (brother to first victim, Rachel Scott), who recounted a conversation that took place across the room. Valeen Schnurr was the one who actually professed her faith in God, and this took place after she was shot. As she lay bleeding, she prayed, “Oh my God, don’t let me die.” Dylan turned around and asked her, “God? Do you believe in God?” Valeen said yes. When the killer asked why, she replied, “My parents brought me up that way”.

Myth #6: Columbine students and teachers were able to communicate with each other via cell phones.

Transcript of what it is believed to have been said in the library during the Columbine high shooting in 1999.

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