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Columbine Shooting Research Paper

1061 Words5 Pages

Columbine
Kyli M. Shaull
Penta Career Center

Columbine
Introduction
Two boys, One school, Fifteen dead. What happened April 20th, 1999, at Columbine High School? Eighteen year old, Eric David Harris and seventeen year old, Dylan Bennet Klebold open fired on their classmates, killing two people, including themselves. In this essay I will explain what happened and possibly why?
What happened? At 11:10 a.m. Eric and Dylan arrive at school. They placed duffel bags of propane bombs in the cafeteria; each bomb set to go off at 11:17. The plan was to kill most of the students in the lunchroom with the bombs and shoot anyone who flees. At 11:19 a.m. the bombs have yet to detonate so the two arm themselves and head towards the school. (Dylan carried …show more content…

Eric had a very bad temper, constant suicidal and homicidal thoughts, often talked about hurting people, and had a serious God complex. Eric also followed many beliefs and practices, such as: homophobia, racism, and naziism.
He blamed these thoughts on the antidepressants he was taking and the response to that was to put him on the same antidepressant with a different brand name. Seventeen year old, Dylan Klebold was extremely shy and depressed. He had a very normal upbringing and didn’t appear to have a violent bone in his body, that is until he befriended Eric Harris. Despite following Eric around like a lost puppy dog, Dylan Klebold did not subscribe to all of the same beliefs as Eric. In fact it is often speculated that Dylan Klebold liked Eric as more than a friend.
Why?
So why did the boys do it? What did they hope to gain? Well while no one can be one hundred percent positive seeing as how the only two people who know the answer are dead, people like myself, who are looking from the outside in, need to collect evidence to come to an educated answer. I and many others speculate, the answer lies within a little thing psychologists call, Nature vs. Nurture. Nature vs. Nurture explains whether human behaviour is determined by the environment or by a person's …show more content…

(2012). WHAT A KILLER THINKS. Newsweek, 160(6), 30.
Gibbs, N., Roche, T., Goldstein, A., Harrington, M., & Woodbury, R. (1999). The Columbine Tapes. (cover story). Time, 154(25), 40.
Hazler, R. J., & Carney, J. V. (2000). When victims turn aggressors: Factors in the development of deadly school violence. Professional School Counseling, 4(2), 105.
Leary, M. R., Kowalski, R. M., Smith, L., & Phillips, S. (2003). Teasing, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings. Aggressive behavior, 29(3), 202-214.
O’Hara, V. (2006). Writings from the Columbine killers. NPR.
Spiegel, D., & Alpert, J. (2000). The relationship between shame and rage: Conceptualizing the violence at Columbine High School. Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, 5(2).
Langman, P. (2009). Columbine, bullying, and the mind of Eric Harris. Psychology Today, 17-22.
Cullen, D. (2018). The Columbine Guide, Explore A Decade Of Dave Cullen’s Research. Retrieved from

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