View source for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

{{Short description|American mass murderers (1981–1999)}}
{{redirect|Eric Harris|other people|Eric Harris (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Klebold|his mother|Sue Klebold}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox mass murderer
| name              = Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
| image             = {{Multiple image|align=center|image1=Eric Harris.JPG|width1=150|image2=Dylan Klebold.JPG|width2=152|perrow=2}}
| caption           = Harris ''(left)'' and Klebold ''(right)'' in their 1999 senior year portraits
| birth_name        = Eric David Harris<br/>{{Birth date|1981|4|9}}<br/>[[Wichita, Kansas]], U.S.<hr/>Dylan Bennet Klebold<br/>{{Birth date|1981|9|11}}<br/>[[Lakewood, Colorado]], U.S.
| occupation        = '''Harris:''' Shift leader at [[Blackjack Pizza]]<br/>'''Klebold:''' Cook at Blackjack Pizza
| education         = [[Columbine High School]] (both)
| death_date        = {{Death date|mf=yes|1999|4|20|}} (Harris aged 18 and Klebold, 17)
| death_place       = [[Columbine High School]], [[Columbine, Colorado]], U.S. (both)<ref name="CDPmap">"[http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/GUBlock/st08_co/place/p0816110_columbine/DC10BLK_P0816110_001.pdf 2010 Census – Census Block Map: Columbine CDP, CO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071354/http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/GUBlock/st08_co/place/p0816110_columbine/DC10BLK_P0816110_001.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }}" U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on April 25, 2015. The school's location is on Pierce Street, which runs north-south through Columbine, roughly one mile west of the Littleton city limit.</ref>
| cause             = [[Suicide methods#Shooting|Suicide by gunshot wound]] (both)
| parents           = '''Harris:''' Wayne Harris and Katherine Poole<br />'''Klebold:''' Thomas Klebold and [[Sue Klebold|Susan Yassenoff]]
| date              = April 20, 1999
| time              = {{nowrap|11:19&nbsp;a.m. – 12:08&nbsp;p.m.}} [[Mountain Time Zone|MDT]] ([[UTC−06:00|UTC−6]])
| targets           = Students and staff at [[Columbine High School]]; [[first responder]]s
| locations         = [[Columbine High School]]
| fatalities        = 14 (total, including [[Anne Marie Hochhalter|a victim]] who died in 2025)
*'''Harris:''' 9
*'''Klebold:''' 5
| injuries          = 23 (3 indirectly; combined total)
*'''Harris:''' 13
*'''Klebold:''' 10
| weapons           = '''Harris:''' [[Hi-Point carbine|Hi-Point 995 carbine]], [[Savage Arms#Shotguns|Savage 67H]] [[Pump action|pump shotgun]], explosives and two knives<br />'''Klebold:''' [[TEC-9|Intratec TEC-DC9]], [[Stevens Model 311|Stevens 311D]] [[Double-barreled shotgun|double-barreled]] [[sawed-off shotgun]], explosives and two knives{{efn|Neither Harris nor Klebold used their knives during the shooting.}}
}}

{{Columbine High School massacre}}

'''Eric David Harris''' (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and '''Dylan Bennet Klebold''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|l|iː|b|oʊ|l|d}} {{respell|KLEE|bohld}}; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were American high school seniors and a [[mass murder]] duo who perpetrated the [[Columbine High School massacre|massacre]] at [[Columbine High School]] on April 20, 1999, in [[Columbine, Colorado]]. Harris and Klebold killed 13 students and one teacher and wounded 23 others.{{efn|Harris and Klebold directly wounded 20 people by gunfire; three others received injuries related to the attack.}} After killing most of their victims in the school's library, they died by [[Suicide in the United States|suicide]]. At the time, it was the [[List of school shootings in the United States by death toll|deadliest high school shooting]] in U.S. history.{{efn|Many early reports said the Columbine massacre was the worst school-related massacre in U.S. history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0424w.htm|title=Columbine – Tragedy and Recovery|website=extras.denverpost.com|publisher=[[The Denver Post]]|access-date=May 14, 2021|archive-date=May 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502080616/https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0424w.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the 1927 [[Bath School disaster]] (a bombing) left 44 dead. The 1966 [[University of Texas tower shooting]] was the deadliest school shooting at the time. It remained the deadliest public school shooting in American history until the 2012 [[Sandy Hook elementary school shooting]] and the deadliest high school shooting until the 2018 [[Stoneman Douglas High School shooting]].}} It remains one of the most infamous massacres due to the pair inspiring many other school attacks, mass shootings, and bombings.

The ensuing [[Media circus|media frenzy]] and [[moral panic]] led to "Columbine" becoming a byword for [[school shooting]]s, and becoming one of the most infamous mass shootings ever perpetrated in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0030923990350304 | doi=10.1080/0030923990350304 | title=Violent Media, Guns and Moral Panics: The Columbine High School Massacre, 20 April 1999 | year=1999 | last1=Springhall | first1=John | journal=Paedagogica Historica | volume=35 | issue=3 | pages=621–641 | access-date=July 11, 2022 | archive-date=July 11, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711211550/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0030923990350304 | url-status=live | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McPadden|first1=Mike|url=https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/crime-history/after-so-many-more-mass-shootings--why-is-columbine-still-such-a|title=After So Many More Mass Shootings, Why is Columbine Still Such a Cultural Touchstone?|website=[[Investigation Discovery]]|date=20 April 2018|access-date=July 11, 2022|archive-date=July 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711211550/https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/crime-history/after-so-many-more-mass-shootings--why-is-columbine-still-such-a|url-status=live}}</ref>

Harris and Klebold were both born in 1981. Harris was born in [[Wichita, Kansas]], but moved around frequently as a child due to his father's occupation in the [[United States Air Force]], while Klebold was born and raised near Columbine. Harris's family eventually settled in Colorado in 1992. Shortly after, Harris and Klebold met while they were in the 7th grade. Over time, they became increasingly close. By the time they were [[Junior (education year)|juniors]] in high school, they were described as inseparable. There are differing reports; some say Harris and Klebold were very unpopular students once they were upperclassmen, as well as frequent targets of bullying, while others say they were not near the bottom of the school's social hierarchy and that each had many friends, along with active social lives. Columbine High School was alleged to have an intense "[[Jock (stereotype)|jock]] culture", which saw popular students, mainly athletes, benefit from special treatment from faculty and other students.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |title=Dissecting Columbine's Cult of the Athlete |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=1999-06-12 |accessdate=2022-06-04 |archive-date=October 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009035341/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to their journal entries, Harris and Klebold seem to have begun planning the attack by May 1998, nearly a year before the attack. Throughout the next eleven months, Harris and Klebold meticulously built explosives and gathered an arsenal of weapons. Both Harris and Klebold each left behind several journal writings and home videos, ones they made both alone and together, foreshadowing the massacre and explaining their motives. Harris and Klebold hoped this content would be viewed by the public extensively and inspire followers, although much of the evidence has never been released by authorities.

Harris and Klebold often wore [[trench coat]]s in school, and in general, as part of their everyday outfits, so after the massacre, it was widely believed Harris and Klebold were part of a [[clique]] in school called the "Trenchcoat Mafia", a group of misfits in the school who supposedly rebelled against the popular students.<ref>{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Garrison|url=https://www.lamarledger.com/2019/04/12/columbine-high-school-shooting-focused-on-trench-coat-mafia/|title=Columbine High School shooting focused on "Trench Coat Mafia"|newspaper=The Lamar Ledger|date=April 12, 2019|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921102258/https://www.lamarledger.com/2019/04/12/columbine-high-school-shooting-focused-on-trench-coat-mafia/|url-status=live}}</ref> This turned out to be untrue, as neither Harris nor Klebold had any affiliation with the group.<ref>{{cite web|first=Marco|last=Margaritoff|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/eric-harris-dylan-klebold-columbine-shooters|title=The Full Story Behind Columbine High School Shooters Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold|website=allthatisinteresting.com|date=March 8, 2019|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112012425/https://allthatsinteresting.com/eric-harris-dylan-klebold-columbine-shooters|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Brockell>{{cite news|first=Gillian|last=Brockell|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/|title=Bullies and black trench coats: The Columbine shooting's most dangerous myths|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 20, 2019|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=May 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528002414/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/|url-status=live}}</ref> The pair's aforementioned writings and videos gave insight into their rationale for the shooting. The [[FBI]] concluded that Harris was a [[Psychopathy|psychopath]], who exhibited [[narcissistic]] traits, unconstrained aggression, and a lack of [[empathy]], while Klebold was concluded to be an angry [[Major depressive disorder|depressive]] with a vengeful attitude toward individuals who he believed had mistreated him.<ref name="Slate">{{cite magazine|first=Dave|last=Cullen|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/at-last-we-know-why-the-columbine-killers-did-it.html|title=The Depressive and the Psychopath: At last we know why the Columbine killers did it|magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=April 20, 2004|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=October 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004005922/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/at-last-we-know-why-the-columbine-killers-did-it.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, neither Harris nor Klebold were formally diagnosed with any [[personality disorders]] prior to the attack,<ref>{{cite web|first=Greg|last=Sancier|url=https://www.police1.com/active-shooter/articles/looking-into-the-minds-of-eric-harris-and-dylan-klebold-WMSQHsoymjDbq5om/|title=Looking into the minds of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold|website=police1.com|date=April 18, 2014|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126025555/https://www.police1.com/active-shooter/articles/looking-into-the-minds-of-eric-harris-and-dylan-klebold-WMSQHsoymjDbq5om/|url-status=live}}</ref> so this conclusion is often debated. In the following years, various media outlets attributed multiple motivating factors to the attack, including [[bullying]], [[mental illness]], [[racism]], [[psychiatric medication]], and [[media violence|violence in music, movies, and video games]]. Despite these conclusions, the exact [[Motive (law)|motive]] for the attack remains inconclusive.

Harris and Klebold have become [[pop culture icon]]s, with the pair often portrayed, referenced and seen in film, television, video games, music and books. Many killers since the shooting have taken inspiration from the pair (dubbed the [[Columbine effect]]), either hailing them as heroes or expressing sympathy for them. Harris and Klebold also have a fanbase, who have coined the term "Columbiners", who write [[fan fiction]] and draw [[fan art]] of them. Others have also dressed as the duo for [[cosplay]] or [[Halloween costume|Halloween]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Kathleen|last=Joyce|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/2-kentucky-high-school-girls-suspended-after-dressing-up-as-columbine-shooters-for-halloween|title=2 Kentucky high school girls suspended after dressing up as Columbine shooters for Halloween|website=[[Fox News]]|date=November 2, 2018|access-date=December 12, 2020|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108171222/https://www.foxnews.com/us/2-kentucky-high-school-girls-suspended-after-dressing-up-as-columbine-shooters-for-halloween|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
===Eric Harris===
'''Eric David Harris''' was born on April 9, 1981, in [[Wichita, Kansas]]. Harris's parents were both born and raised in Colorado. His mother, Katherine Ann Poole, was a [[Homemaking|homemaker]]. His father, Wayne Harris, was working in the [[United States Air Force]] as a transport pilot. In 1983, the family moved to [[Dayton, Ohio]], when Harris was two years old. Six years later, the family relocated to [[Oscoda, Michigan]]. Michigan pastor William Stone lived across the street from the Harris family while they were located in Oscoda. Stone recalled them as "great neighbors" and often saw Wayne very engaged with his sons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1999/04/23/Mich-pastor-recalls-Harris-family/2665924840000/ |title=Mich. pastor recalls Harris family |website=[[UPI]] Archives |date=1999-04-23 |access-date=2022-02-19 |archive-date=September 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929223549/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1999/04/23/Mich-pastor-recalls-Harris-family/2665924840000/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Harris family then moved to [[Plattsburgh, New York]], in 1991. During his time at Stafford Middle School, Harris played [[Little League Baseball]], regularly went to birthday parties and was "part of the crowd". Kyle Ross, a former classmate of Harris, said, "He was just a typical kid."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/1999/04/22/lethal-geeks-were-made-for-each-other/ |title=Lethal Geeks Were Made for Each Other |date=April 22, 1999 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604083237/https://nypost.com/1999/04/22/lethal-geeks-were-made-for-each-other/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Harris family finally settled back in [[Littleton, Colorado]] the next year when Wayne retired from the military.<ref name="Suspects" />

On a 1997 English class assignment, Harris wrote about how difficult the move was from [[New York (state)|New York]] to Colorado. "It was the hardest moving from Plattsburgh. I have the most memories from there", Harris continued. "When I left (his friends) I felt alone, lost and even agitated that I had spent so much time with them and now I have to go because of something I can't stop."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-y9CgAAQBAJ&q=%22It+was+the+hardest+moving+from+Plattsburgh.+I+have+the+most+memories+from+there,%22&pg=PT65|title=Columbine: A True Crime Story|first=Jeff|last=Kass|date=February 18, 2014|publisher=Conundrum Press|isbn=9781938633270|via=Google Books|access-date=November 10, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921102312/https://books.google.com/books?id=y-y9CgAAQBAJ&q=%22It+was+the+hardest+moving+from+Plattsburgh.+I+have+the+most+memories+from+there%2C%22&pg=PT65|url-status=live}}</ref> Harris, in a basement tape, blamed his father for moving the family around, forcing Harris to "start out at the bottom of the ladder."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=David K. |title=Lethal Geeks Were Made For Each Other |url=https://nypost.com/1999/04/22/lethal-geeks-were-made-for-each-other/ |access-date=July 10, 2020 |work=[[New York Post]] |date=April 22, 1999 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604083237/https://nypost.com/1999/04/22/lethal-geeks-were-made-for-each-other/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Harris had a chest deformity known as [[pectus excavatum]], in which the breastbone sinks into the chest. This made Harris reluctant to take his shirt off in gym class as other students ridiculed him. Harris had two [[Plastic surgery|cosmetic surgeries]] at age 12 and 13 to repair the deformity. The sunken chest was still mildly observable during his [[autopsy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/eric-harriss-autopsy-report#:~:text=The%20report%20also%20notes%20that,pectus%20excavatum%20was%20still%20observable |title=Eric Harris's Autopsy Report |publisher=School Shooters .info |date= |accessdate=2022-08-04 |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205113338/https://schoolshooters.info/eric-harriss-autopsy-report#:~:text=The%20report%20also%20notes%20that,pectus%20excavatum%20was%20still%20observable |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/04/20/damaged-masculinity-may-help-explain-columbine-and-other-mass-shootings/ |title='Damaged masculinity' may help explain Columbine and other mass shootings |date=2021-10-23 |orig-date=2016-04-20 |author1=Michael S. Rosenwald |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409 |access-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906165415/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/04/20/damaged-masculinity-may-help-explain-columbine-and-other-mass-shootings/ |url-status=live }}{{WaPoCheckDates}}</ref>

The Harris family lived in rented accommodations for the first three years that they lived in the Littleton area. While Harris was in 7th&nbsp;grade, he met Klebold. In 1996, the Harris family purchased and settled at a house south of Columbine High School. Harris's older brother, Kevin, attended college at the [[University of Colorado Boulder|University of Colorado]].<ref name="sides">{{cite news |author1=Briggs, Bill |author2=Blevins, Jason |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |title=A Boy With Many Sides |date=May 2, 1999 |newspaper=[[Denver Post]] |access-date=September 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027201910/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/05/columbine.diary/ |title=Columbine killer envisioned crashing plane in NYC |date=December 6, 2001 |publisher=CNN |access-date=September 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006163130/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/05/columbine.diary/ |archive-date=October 6, 2011 }}</ref> Harris's father took a job with Flight Safety Services Corporation and Harris's mother became a [[Catering|caterer]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Santiago |first1=Ellyn |title=Eric Harris' Parents & Brother, Wayne, Kathy & Kevin Harris: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know |url=https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/eric-harris-parents-brother-wayne-kathy-kevin-harris/ |access-date=November 8, 2020 |work=[[Heavy.com]] |date=April 17, 2019 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112013847/https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/eric-harris-parents-brother-wayne-kathy-kevin-harris/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=SHATTERED>{{cite news |last1=Belluck |first1=Pam |last2=Wilgoren |first2=Jodi |title=Shattered Lives – A special report.; Caring Parents, No Answers, In Columbine Killers' Pasts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/29/us/shattered-lives-special-report-caring-parents-no-answers-columbine-killers-pasts.html |access-date=November 7, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 29, 1999 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126072351/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/29/us/shattered-lives-special-report-caring-parents-no-answers-columbine-killers-pasts.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harris entered Columbine High School in 1995 as a [[freshman]]. Columbine had just gone through a major renovation and expansion.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SWAT_MOVE_TEXT.htm |title=SWAT_MOVE_TEXT |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=July 12, 2020 |archive-date=January 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124105430/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SWAT_MOVE_TEXT.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> From all accounts, he had many friends and was left forward and mid-field on the Columbine soccer team for his freshman and [[sophomore]] year. Josh Swanson, one of his teammates, said that Harris was a "solid" soccer player who enjoyed the sport a lot.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |title=Portrait of two teens reveals a lot of gray |date=May 3, 1999 |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |access-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611004225/https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/eric-harris |title=Eric Harris |website=www.biography.com |access-date=July 12, 2020 |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414015833/https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/eric-harris |url-status=live}}</ref> During his freshman year, Harris met Tiffany Typher. They had German class together.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0423d.htm|title=The Denver Post Online – Columbine – Tragedy and Recovery|website=extras.denverpost.com|access-date=July 12, 2020|archive-date=February 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225081800/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0423d.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Typher later recounted that Harris quickly wooed her. Harris asked her to [[homecoming]] and she accepted. After the event, it appeared that Typher was no longer interested in seeing Harris, for reasons never disclosed. When Typher refused to socialize with Harris again, Harris staged a fake suicide, sprawling on the ground with fake blood splashed all over him. When Typher saw him on the ground, she began to scream for help, at which point Harris and his friends began laughing, prompting Typher to storm off, shouting at Harris to get psychological help.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric.php |title=^^ Eric David Harris ^^ |access-date=August 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723095423/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric.php |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dylan Klebold===
'''Dylan Bennet Klebold''' was born on September 11, 1981, in [[Lakewood, Colorado]], to Thomas and [[Sue Klebold]].<ref name="Suspects">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SUSPECTS_TEXT.htm |title=Suspects Text |publisher=CNN |access-date=September 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726055023/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SUSPECTS_TEXT.htm |archive-date=July 26, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On the day after the shooting, Klebold's mother remembered that shortly after Klebold's birth, she described what felt like a shadow cast over her, warning her that this child would bring her great sorrow. "I think I still make of it what I did at that time. It was a passing feeling that went over very quickly, like a shadow." Sue said in an interview with [[Colorado Public Radio]]. Klebold was soon diagnosed with [[pyloric stenosis]], a condition in which the opening between the stomach and small intestines thickens, causing severe vomiting during the first few months of life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/ill-never-know-if-i-could-have-prevented-it-says-mother-of-columbine-shooter/|title='I'll Never Know If I Could Have Prevented It,' Says Mother Of Columbine Shooter|first=Andrea|last=Dukakis|date=February 16, 2016 |publisher=[[Colorado Public Radio]]|access-date=July 25, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805114756/https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/ill-never-know-if-i-could-have-prevented-it-says-mother-of-columbine-shooter/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Klebold's parents had met when they were both studying art at [[Ohio State University]]. After they both graduated, they married in 1971, with their first child, Byron, being born in 1978. Thomas had initially worked as a sculptor, but then moved over to [[engineering]] to be more financially stable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502c.htm |title=Life and death of a follower |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616045644/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502c.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Sue had worked in assistance services with [[Disability|disabled]] children. Furthermore, Klebold's parents were [[pacifists]] and attended a [[Lutheran]] church with their children. Both Klebold and his older brother attended [[confirmation]] classes in accordance with the [[Confirmation (Lutheran Church)|Lutheran tradition]].<ref name="mult1">{{cite web |first=Chris |last=Leppek |title=Dylan Klebold led life of religious contradictions |url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/11140/edition_id/213/format/html/displaystory.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329233932/http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/11140/edition_id/213/format/html/displaystory.html |date=April 30, 1999 |archive-date=March 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 19, 2018}}</ref> As had been the case with his older brother, Klebold was named after a renowned poet, [[Dylan Thomas]].<ref>''A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy'' p. 84</ref>
Klebold attended Normandy Elementary School for first and second grade and then transferred to Governor's Ranch Elementary School where he was part of the Challenging High Intellectual Potential Students program for gifted children. According to reports, Klebold was exceptionally bright as a young child, although he appeared somewhat sheltered in elementary school.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/dylan-klebold |title=Dylan Klebold – Columbine School Shooting, Parents & Journal |website=www.biography.com |date=June 18, 2020 |access-date=December 20, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201081743/https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/dylan-klebold |url-status=live }}</ref> When he transitioned to Ken Caryl Middle School, he found it difficult. Fellow classmates recalled Klebold being painfully shy and quiet, often to an uncomfortable degree.<ref name="acolumbinesite.com">{{cite web |author=C Shepard |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/dylan.php |title=^^ Dylan Bennet Klebold ^^ |publisher=Acolumbinesite.com |date= |accessdate=2022-02-19 |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723095423/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/dylan.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Klebold's parents were unconcerned with the fact that Klebold found the changing of schools uneasy, as they assumed it was just regular behavior among young adolescents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/dylan.php |title=^^ Dylan Bennet Klebold ^^ |access-date=August 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723095423/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/dylan.php |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the family home, the Klebolds also observed some rituals in keeping with Klebold's maternal great-grandfather's Jewish heritage.<ref name="mult1"/><ref>Culver, Virginia (April 28, 1999). [http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0428d.htm "Klebolds 'loneliest people on the planet'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055334/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0428d.htm |date=September 21, 2013 }}. ''[[The Denver Post]]''.</ref>

During his earlier school years, Klebold played baseball, soccer and [[Tee-ball|T-ball]]. Klebold was in Cub Scouts with friend Brooks Brown, whom he was friends with since first grade. Brown lived near the house Harris's parents had bought when they finally settled in Littleton, and rode the same bus as Harris. Shortly after, Klebold had met Harris and the pair quickly became best friends. Later, Harris introduced Klebold to his friend Nathan Dykeman, who also attended their middle school, and they all became a tight-knit group of friends.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SUSPECTS_TEXT.htm |title=Suspects_Text |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=September 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508103216/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/SUSPECTS_TEXT.htm |archive-date=May 8, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Background==

===Personalities===
Both Harris and Klebold worked together as cooks at a [[Blackjack Pizza]], a mile south from Columbine High School. Harris was eventually promoted to shift leader.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |title=Portrait of two teens reveals a lot of gray |journal=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=May 3, 1999 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611004225/https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He and his group of friends were interested in computers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-columbine-shooters/ |title=The Columbine Shooters |website=[[CBS News]] |date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=November 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111201929/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-columbine-shooters/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and were enrolled in a bowling class.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |title=A boy with many sides |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607002355/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some described Harris as charismatic, and others described him as nice and likable.<ref name=psych>{{cite web |url=https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/19990503/news/305039989 |title=Psychologists say Harris, Klebold became deadly mix |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107113922/https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/19990503/news/305039989 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Antisocial>{{Cite news|first1=Joel|last1=Achenbach|first2=Dale|last2=Russakoff|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm|title=Teen Shooter's Life Paints Antisocial Portrait|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 29, 1999|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026082703/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Harris also often bragged about his ability to deceive others, once stating in a tape that he could make anyone believe anything.<ref name=basement>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf |title=Transcript of the Columbine "Basement Tapes" |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715180540/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |url-status=live |first=Peter |last=Langman |website=schoolshooters.info |date=29 July 2014}}</ref> By his [[Junior (education year)|junior year]], Harris was also known to be quick to anger, and threatened people with bombs.<ref name=psych/><ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Kohn|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbine-were-there-warning-signs/|title=Columbine: Were There Warning Signs?|website=[[CBS News]]|date=April 17, 1999|access-date=July 6, 2020|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706175129/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbine-were-there-warning-signs/|url-status=live}}</ref> Classmates also related that Harris was fascinated by war, and wrote out violent fantasies about killing people he did not like.<ref name=Antisocial/>

Klebold was described by his peers and adults as painfully shy. Klebold often was fidgety whenever someone new talked to him, rarely opening up to people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |title=Dave Cullen on the Columbine killer Dylan Klebold |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=April 24, 2009 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019031751/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |url-status=live }}</ref> Klebold was also exceptionally nervous in front of women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |title=The reluctant killer &#124; Columbine |work=The Guardian |date= April 24, 2009|accessdate=2022-02-19 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019031751/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |url-status=live }}</ref> In the last year of his life, many noted a change in Klebold's behavior. Unlike before, Klebold became short-tempered, often prone to sudden outbursts of anger.<ref name="acolumbinesite.com"/>

===Friendship===
Much of the information on Harris and Klebold's friendship is unknown, on their interactions and conversations, aside from the Basement Tapes, of which only transcripts have been released, aside from a short audio clip recorded surreptitiously by a victim's father. The pair claimed they were going to make copies of the tapes to send to news stations, but never did so.<ref name=basement /> Harris and Klebold met at Ken Caryl Middle School during their seventh grade year. Over time, they became increasingly close, hanging out by often going out bowling, carpooling and playing the video game ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' over a private server connected to their personal computers. By their junior year of high school, the boys were described as inseparable. Chad Laughlin, a close friend of Harris and Klebold, said that they always sat alone together at lunch and often kept to themselves.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485 |title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold |first=Alan |last=Prendergast |date=April 17, 2009 |website=Westword|access-date=June 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621134956/https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485|archive-date=June 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

A rumor eventually started that Harris and Klebold were [[homosexual|gay]] and romantically involved, due to the time the pair spent together. It is unknown if they were aware of this rumor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hari |first1=Johann |title=The cult of Eric and Dylan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-cult-of-eric-and-dylan-73697.html |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=January 15, 2004 |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530054106/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-cult-of-eric-and-dylan-73697.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Judy Brown believed Harris was more emotionally dependent on Klebold, who was more liked by the broader student population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4K8YE1ZatU |title=Zero Hour – Massacre at Columbine High |last=XxSlenderMotoxX |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |via=YouTube|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613063423/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4K8YE1ZatU|archive-date=June 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In his journals, however, Klebold wrote that he felt that he was not accepted or loved by anyone. Due to these feelings, Klebold possibly sought validation from Harris. [[Sue Klebold|Klebold's mother]] believes Harris's rage, intermingled with Klebold's self-destructive personality, caused the boys to feed off of each other and enter in what eventually became an unhealthy friendship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKLr1yPupI |title=Sue Klebold's Interview: After Words With Sue Klebold – BOOK TV |last=Vodka'sHypnosis |date=April 24, 2016 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |via=YouTube|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208215953/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKLr1yPupI|archive-date=December 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Columbine High School===
At Columbine High School, Harris and Klebold were active in school play productions, operated video productions and became computer assistants, maintaining the school's computer server.<ref name="Suspects"/> According to early accounts of the shooting, they were very unpopular students and targets of [[School bullying|bullying]]. While sources do support accounts of bullying specifically directed toward Harris and Klebold,<ref name=DenverWestword1>{{cite news |author=Prendergast, Alan |date=July 13, 2000 |url=http://www.westword.com/2000-07-13/news/the-missing-motive/ |title=The Missing Motive |newspaper=[[Denver Westword News]]|access-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728033506/http://www.westword.com/2000-07-13/news/the-missing-motive/|archive-date=July 28, 2012|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=brooksbrown>{{cite book |first1=Brooks|last1=Brown |first2=Rob|last2=Merritt |title=No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine |url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Lantern Books]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-59056-031-0 |access-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531090118/https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=DenverWestword2>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/04/forgiving_my_friend_dylan_kleb.php |title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold |newspaper=Denver Westword Post |first=Alan|last=Prendergast|date=April 17, 2009|access-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420030056/http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/04/forgiving_my_friend_dylan_kleb.php|archive-date=April 20, 2009|url-status=live }}</ref> accounts of them being outcasts have been reported to be false, since both of them had a close knit group of friends.<ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Brooks|author-link=David Brooks (journalist)|date=April 24, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/the-columbine-killers.html|title=The Columbine Killers|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204104540/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/the-columbine-killers.html |archive-date=February 4, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=USAToday>{{cite news |last=Toppo |first=Greg |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm |title=10 years later, the real story behind Columbine |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=April 14, 2009 |access-date=April 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415152154/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm |archive-date=April 15, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harris and Klebold were initially reported to be members of a [[clique]] that was called the "Trenchcoat Mafia", despite later confirmation that the pair had no connection to the group and furthermore did not appear in the group's photo in Columbine High's 1998 [[yearbook]].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|first=Jodi|last=Wilgoren|date=April 25, 1999|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html|title=Terror in Littleton: the Group; Society of Outcasts Began With a $99 Black Coat|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626024728/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |archive-date=June 26, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/325054.stm|title=Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?|website=[[BBC News]]|date=April 21, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902001210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/325054.stm |archive-date=September 2, 2013 }}</ref> Harris's father erroneously stated that his son was "a member of what they call the Trenchcoat Mafia" in a {{nowrap|[[9-1-1]]}} call he made on the day of the shooting.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Kass |title=Columbine: A True Crime Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHQ7OgAACAAJ |publisher=Ghost Road Publishing Group |location=Denver, Colorado|date=2009 |isbn=978-0-9816525-6-6 |access-date=September 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105034627/http://books.google.com/books?id=eHQ7OgAACAAJ |archive-date=January 5, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Klebold attended the high school [[prom]] three days before the shootings with a classmate named Robyn Anderson.<ref name="FatalFriendship">{{cite news |first1=Linda |last1=Bartels |first2=Carla|last2=Crowder |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |title=Fatal Friendship |work=[[Denver Rocky Mountain News]] |date=August 22, 1999 |access-date=June 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205024601/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |archive-date=December 5, 2008 }}</ref>

Harris and Klebold linked their personal computers on a network and played video games over the Internet. Harris created a set of levels for the game ''Doom'', which later became known as the "Harris levels". The levels are downloadable over the internet through [[Doom WAD|''Doom'' WADs]]. Harris had a web presence under the [[User (computing)|handle]] "REB" (short for Rebel, a nod to the nickname of Columbine High's sports teams) and other online aliases, including "Rebldomakr", "Rebdoomer", and "Rebdomine". Klebold went by the names "VoDKa" and "VoDkA", after the [[Vodka|alcoholic beverage]]. Harris had various websites that hosted ''Doom'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' files, as well as team information for those with whom he gamed online. The sites openly espoused hatred for people in their neighborhood and the world in general. When the pair began experimenting with [[pipe bomb]]s, they posted results of the explosions on the websites. The website was shut down by [[America Online]] after the shootings and was preserved for the FBI.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harris hinted at violence to come |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9904/21/harris.profile.02/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=April 22, 1999|access-date=August 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826205519/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9904/21/harris.profile.02/index.html|archive-date=August 26, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Initial criminal activity===
On the night of January 30, 1998, Harris and Klebold broke into a locked van to steal computers and other electronic equipment. A short while after a Jefferson County sheriff's officer drove upon the two boys parked further down road at another park entrance and since the park area was closed by that time of night, the arresting deputy decided to further inspect them. The deputy announced his presence as one of the boys prepared to move the stolen goods into the trunk of the car. Harris shortly after admitted to theft after the deputy asked about where the equipment came from.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Originals to Evidence |url=http://acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p10501-10600.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316001137/http://acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p10501-10600.pdf |archive-date=2013-03-16 |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=acolumbinesite.com}}</ref> They were later charged with [[mischief]], [[burglary|breaking and entering]], [[trespass]]ing, and [[theft]]. They both left good impressions on [[Juvenile court|juvenile officers]], who offered to [[expunge]] their [[criminal record]]s if they agreed to attend a diversionary program which included [[community service]] and [[psychotherapy|psychiatric treatment]]. Harris was required to attend [[anger management]] classes where, again, he made a favorable impression. The boys' [[probation officer]] discharged them from the program a few months ahead of schedule for good behavior. Regarding Harris, it was remarked that he was "a very bright individual who is likely to succeed in life", while Klebold was said to be intelligent, but "needs to understand that hard work is part of fulfilling a dream."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMoCwAAQBAJ&q=a+very+bright+individual+who+is+likely+to+succeed+in+life&pg=PT46 |title=Fundamentals of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice: With Selected Readings |isbn=9781506326696 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |last1=Bachman |first1=Ronet D. |last2=Schutt |first2=Russell K. |last3=Plass |first3=Peggy S. |date=December 19, 2015 |publisher=SAGE Publications |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107113921/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMoCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT46&lpg=PT46&dq=a+very+bright+individual+who+is+likely+to+succeed+in+life |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several months later on April 30, Harris handed over the first version of a letter of apology he wrote to the owner of the van, which he completed the next month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schoolshooters.info/eric-harris-diversion.pdf |title=Eric Harris Juvenille Diversion File |access-date=October 15, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014005724/http://www.schoolshooters.info/eric-harris-diversion.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2014 |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref> In the letter, Harris expressed regret about his actions; however, in one of his journal entries dated April&nbsp;12, he wrote: "Isn't america supposed to be the land of the free? how come, If im free, I cant deprive some fucking dumbshit from his possessions If he leaves them sitting in the front seat of his fucking van in plain sight in the middle of fucking nowhere on a fri-fucking-day night? [[Natural selection]]. Fucker should be shot. {{sic}}".<ref>{{cite web |first=Dave |last=Cullen |title=Eric's big lie |url=http://www.columbine-online.com/journals/columbine-eric-harris-big-lie.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119045203/http://www.columbine-online.com/journals/columbine-eric-harris-big-lie.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 19, 2011 |work=Columbine Online}}</ref><ref name="Erics_journal">{{cite web |first=Cyn|last=Shepard |url=http://acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/journal/journal.html |title=Columbine shooter Eric Harris' Journals and Writing |website=Acolumbinesite.com |access-date=October 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904072615/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/journal/journal.html |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===''Hitmen for Hire''===
When an economics class had Harris make an ad for a business, he and Klebold made a video called ''Hitmen for Hire'' on December 8, 1998, which was released in February 2004. It depicts them as part of the [[Trench coat|Trench Coat]] [[Mafia]], a clique in the school who wore black trench coats, extorting money for protecting [[Preppy|preps]] from bullies.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|pp=197–199}}</ref> They were apparently not a part of the Trench Coat Mafia, but were friends with some of its members.<ref name=Salon>{{cite web|last=Cullen |first=Dave |url=http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |title=Inside the Columbine High investigation |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=September 23, 1999 |access-date=May 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517044320/http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|They did not appear in a group photo of the Trench Coat Mafia in the yearbook.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilgoren|first=Jodi|date=1999-04-25|title=TERROR IN LITTLETON: THE GROUP; Society of Outcasts Began With a $99 Black Coat|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html|access-date=2022-01-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626024728/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=BBC News &#124; Americas &#124; Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|access-date=2022-01-12|website=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|title=Columbine High School shooting focuses on "Trench Coat Mafia"|first1=Susan|last1=Greene|first2=Bill Briggs &#124; The Denver|last2=Post|date=April 21, 1999|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200843/https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Harris's father stated that his son was "a member of what they call the Trench Coat Mafia" in the 9-1-1 call he made on April 20, 1999.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|p=219}}</ref>}} They wore black trench coats on the day of the massacre, and the video seemed a kind of [[dress rehearsal]], showing them walking the halls of the school, and shooting bullies outside with fake guns.<ref name=hithire>{{cite web|url=https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|title=Hitmen For Hire · Eric Harris School Assignment|website=columbine-guide.com|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016165421/https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both also displayed themes of violence in their creative writing projects; of a ''Doom''-based story written by Harris on January 17, 1999, Harris's teacher said: "Yours is a unique approach and your writing works in a gruesome way — good details and mood setting."<ref>{{cite web |author=Shepard, Cyn |title=Eric's writing: Creative writing story |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |publisher=A Columbine Site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183643/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Cyn|last=Shepard|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |title=Gunfire in the halls |publisher=A Columbine Site |access-date=August 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917052743/http://acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |archive-date=September 17, 2010 }}</ref>

==Acquiring arms==
Harris and Klebold were unable to legally purchase firearms due to them both being underage at the time. Klebold then enlisted Robyn Anderson, an 18-year-old Columbine student and old friend of Klebold's, to make a [[straw purchase]] of two shotguns and a [[Hi-Point carbine]] for the pair. In exchange for her cooperation with the investigation that followed the shootings, no charges were filed against Anderson.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0605.htm |title=Gunman's prom date airs story |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610173923/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0605.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> After illegally acquiring the weapons, Klebold [[Sawed-off shotgun|sawed off]] his Savage 311-D 12-gauge [[double-barrel shotgun]], shortening the overall length to approximately {{convert|23|in|mm}}. Meanwhile, Harris's Savage-Springfield 12-gauge pump shotgun was sawn off to around {{convert|26|in|mm}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=How they were equipped that day |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/EQUIPMENT_TEXT.htm |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=November 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202153237/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/EQUIPMENT_TEXT.htm |archive-date=December 2, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The shooters also possessed a [[Intratec TEC-DC9|TEC-DC9]] semi-automatic handgun, which had a long history. The manufacturer of the TEC-DC9 first sold it to Miami-based Navegar Incorporated. It was then sold to Zander's Sporting Goods in [[Baldwin, Illinois]], in 1994. The gun was later sold to a firearms dealer, Larry Russell, in [[Thornton, Colorado]]. In violation of federal law, Russell failed to keep [[Federal Form 4473|records]] of the sale, yet he determined that the purchaser of the gun was twenty-one years of age or older. Two men, Mark Manes and Philip Duran, were convicted of supplying weapons to the two.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot1113.htm |title=Judge gives Manes 6 years |newspaper=The Denver Post |last1=Pankratz |first1=Howard |last2=Simpson |first2=Kevin |date=November 13, 1999 |access-date=December 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020154824/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot1113.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The bombs used by the pair varied and were crudely made from [[carbon dioxide]] canisters, galvanized pipe, and metal [[propane]] tanks. The CO<sub>2</sub> and pipe bombs were primed with matches placed at one end of their fuses. Both had striker tips on their sleeves. When they rubbed against the bomb, the match head lit the fuse. The weekend before the shootings, Harris and Klebold had purchased propane tanks and other supplies from a hardware store for a few hundred dollars. Several residents of the area claimed to have heard glass breaking and buzzing sounds from the Harris family's garage, which later was concluded to indicate they were constructing pipe bombs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-bombs|title=The Bombs: The Columbine Guide-Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold Sue|website=columbine-guide|access-date=July 4, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923212941/https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-bombs|url-status=live}}</ref>

More complex bombs, such as the one that detonated on the corner of South Wadsworth Boulevard and Ken Caryl Avenue, had [[time bomb|timers]]. The two largest bombs built were found in the school cafeteria and were made from small propane tanks. Only one of these bombs went off, only partially detonating.<ref name="Suspects" /> It was estimated that if any of the bombs placed in the cafeteria had detonated properly, the blast could have caused extensive structural damage to the school and would have resulted in hundreds of casualties.<ref>{{cite web |title=At 'perfect' school, student sat next to bomb |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1076860,00.html |date=April 12, 2002 |work=Rocky Mountain News |first=Lynn |last=Bartels |access-date=August 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420145325/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_1076860%2C00.html |archive-date=April 20, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Massacre==
{{Main|Columbine High School massacre}}

[[File:Columbine Shooting Security Camera.jpg|thumbnail|Harris <small>''(left)''</small> and Klebold <small>''(right)''</small> on a surveillance camera on the day of the shooting]]

On April 20, 1999, just weeks before Harris and Klebold were both due to graduate,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/24/us/terror-in-littleton-the-seniors-in-horrific-circumstance-sense-of-lost-pomp.html |title=Terror in Littleton: The Seniors; In Horrific Circumstance, Sense of Lost Pomp|first=Sara|last=Rimer |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 24, 1999|access-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208020853/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/24/us/terror-in-littleton-the-seniors-in-horrific-circumstance-sense-of-lost-pomp.html |archive-date=December 8, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Brooks Brown, who was smoking a cigarette outside during lunch break, saw Harris arrive at school. Brown had severed his friendship with Harris a year earlier after Harris had thrown a chunk of ice at his car windshield. Brown reconciled with Harris just prior to the shooting. Brown approached Harris near his car and scolded him for skipping his morning classes, because Harris was always serious about schoolwork and being on time. Harris replied, "It doesn't matter anymore." Harris followed up a few seconds later, "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home."<ref>{{cite web |title=Columbine Survivor With Words for Virginia Students |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9658182 |date=April 18, 2007 |first=Brooks |last=Brown |website=[[National Public Radio|NPR]] |access-date=August 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208011646/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9658182 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Brown, who felt uneasy, quickly left the school grounds. At 11:19&nbsp;am, he heard the first gunshots after he had walked some distance away from the school, and informed the police via a neighbor's cell phone.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patch.com/connecticut/monroe/bp--friend-of-columbine-killers-still-seeking-answers|title=Friend of Columbine Killers Still Seeking Answers|date=November 27, 2012|website=Monroe, CT Patch|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611004033/https://patch.com/connecticut/monroe/bp--friend-of-columbine-killers-still-seeking-answers|url-status=live}}</ref>

By that time, Klebold had already arrived at the school in a separate car, and the two boys left two duffel bags, each containing a 20-pound [[propane bomb]], inside the [[cafeteria]]. Their original plans indicated that when these bombs detonated, Harris and Klebold would be waiting at their cars and would shoot, stab and throw bombs at survivors of the initial explosion as they ran out of the school. At noon, this would be followed by bombs set up in their personal cars detonating, killing first responders and others on scene.<ref>{{cite web |first=Keryn|last=Donnelly|url=https://www.mamamia.com.au/columbine-original-plan/ |title=The chance mistake that saved hundreds of lives on the day of the Columbine shooting |website=Mamamia.com.au|date=January 20, 2018|access-date=January 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101040536/https://www.mamamia.com.au/columbine-original-plan/ |archive-date=January 1, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> When these devices failed to detonate, Harris and Klebold resorted to gunning down their classmates and teachers. It was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S history until it was surpassed by the [[Stoneman Douglas High School shooting]] committed by [[Nikolas Cruz]] on February 14, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/15/deadliest-mass-shootings-in-modern-america |title=Mass shootings: what are the deadliest attacks in the US? |last=Morris |first=Sam |date=February 15, 2018 |website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215231456/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/15/deadliest-mass-shootings-in-modern-america|archive-date=February 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-school-shooting-among-10-deadliest-in-modern-us-history |title=Florida school shooting among 10 deadliest in modern US history |last=Earl |first=Jennifer |date=February 14, 2018 |publisher=[[Fox News]]|access-date=February 15, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215021549/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/14/florida-school-shooting-among-10-deadliest-in-modern-us-history.html|archive-date=February 15, 2018 }}</ref> Harris was responsible for nine of the fourteen confirmed deaths ([[Rachel Scott]], Daniel Rohrbough,<ref>{{cite web |title=Daniel Lee Rohrbough |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/dannyr.html |publisher=A Columbine Site |access-date=December 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209145431/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/dannyr.html |archive-date=December 9, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Anne Marie Hochhalter]]–who was initially left paraplegic and eventually died from her injuries in 2025–<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slevin |first=Colleen |date=18 February 2025 |title=Columbine survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter, who forgave gunman's mother, dies at 43 |url=https://apnews.com/article/columbine-anne-marie-hochhalter-forgive-klebold-obit-f8e8aabd8cf7fe23d71d81d1e6eac423 |access-date=19 February 2025 |work=[[The Associated Press]] |quote="Hochhalter was found in her home in suburban Denver on Sunday. Her family suspects she died of natural causes stemming from her injuries in the 1999 shooting in which 12 students and a teacher were killed."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 March 2025 |title=Cause of death for my daughter, Anne Marie Hochhalter, has been released by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. I'm sharing this for family and friends who may see some things in the media that may be, or may not be, totally accurate. I thought folks might like to know. |url=https://x.com/zhawke2002/status/1898131609205064075 |access-date=11 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=(Westminster, CO, Shot On 4/14/04--) Anne Marie Hochhalter, 22, receives physical therapy by home health aide Sandy Johnson in her home Wednesday April 14, 2004. Hochhalter was shot twice by Eric Harris at Columbine High School leaving her a T12 parapleg |url=https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/690966 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Denver Public Library Digital Collections |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=A survivors story: 10 years after Columbine. |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/04/17/a-survivors-story-10-years-after-columbine}}</ref> teacher Dave Sanders, Steve Curnow, [[Cassie Bernall]], Isaiah Shoels, Kelly Fleming, and Daniel Mauser), while Klebold was responsible for the remaining five (Kyle Velasquez, Matthew Kechter, Lauren Townsend, John Tomlin, and Corey DePooter). There were 23 injured (20 of them by the shooters), most in critical condition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/memoriam.php|title=13 Victims killed at Columbine High School|website=www.acolumbinesite.com|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920054341/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/memoriam.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/injured.php|title=Injured and Survivors of the Columbine High School shooting|website=www.acolumbinesite.com|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=February 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216085139/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/injured.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Suicide===
At 12:02&nbsp;pm, Harris and Klebold returned to the library. Of the 56 library hostages, 34 remained unharmed, all of whom escaped after Harris and Klebold left the library initially. Investigators later found that Harris and Klebold had enough ammunition to have killed them all.<ref>{{cite news |title=Findings of Library Events |url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/LIBRARY_TEXT.htm |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=[[Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (Colorado)]] |agency=[[CNN International]] |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222232149/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/LIBRARY_TEXT.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was 20 minutes after their lethal shooting spree had ended, leaving 12 students dead, one teacher dying, and another 24 students and staff injured. Ten of their victims had been killed in the library.<ref name=olsen>{{cite news |last1=Berg Olsen |first1=Martine |title=Remembering the 13 victims of Columbine High School massacre 20 years on |url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/20/remembering-the-13-victims-of-columbine-high-school-massacre-20-years-on-9228117/ |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro.co.uk]] |date=April 20, 2019 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321202924/https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/20/remembering-the-13-victims-of-columbine-high-school-massacre-20-years-on-9228117/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is believed they came back to the library to watch their car bombs detonate, which had been set up to explode at noon.<ref name=olsen/> This did not happen, as the aforementioned bombs failed. Harris and Klebold went to the west windows and opened fire on the police outside. No one was injured in the exchange. Between three and six minutes later, they walked to the bookshelves near a table where Patrick Ireland lay badly wounded and coming in and out of consciousness. Student Lisa Kreutz, injured in the earlier library attack, was also in the room, unable to move.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/injured3.php#lisa|title=Injured and Survivors of the Columbine High School shooting|website=www.acolumbinesite.com|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=April 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425135313/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/injured3.php#lisa|url-status=live}}</ref>

By 12:08&nbsp;pm, Harris and Klebold had killed themselves. In a subsequent interview, Kreutz recalled hearing a comment such as, "You in the library", around this time. Harris sat down with his back to a bookshelf and fired his shotgun through the [[Palate|roof of his mouth]]; Klebold went down on his knees and shot himself in the left temple with his TEC-9. An article by ''[[The Rocky Mountain News]]'' stated that Patti Nielson overheard them shout "One! Two! Three!" in unison, just before a loud boom.<ref name=Fatal>{{cite news |last=Bartels |first=Lynn |author2=Carla Crowder |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |title=Fatal Friendship |newspaper=[[The Rocky Mountain News]] |date=1999 |access-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010221031521/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |archive-date=February 21, 2001}}</ref> Nielson said that she had never spoken with either of the writers of the article,<ref>[http://acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p0001-0100.pdf Progress Report, Case # 99-16215] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904084603/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p0001-0100.pdf |date=September 4, 2015 }} pp. 98–99</ref> and evidence suggests otherwise. Just before shooting himself, Klebold lit a Molotov cocktail on a nearby table, underneath which Ireland was lying, which caused the tabletop to momentarily catch fire. Underneath the scorched film of material was a piece of Harris's brain matter, suggesting Harris had shot himself by this point.<ref>Columbine Report documents, p. JC-001-008937</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Krabbé |first=Tim |year=2012 |title=Wij Zijn Maar Wij Zijn Niet Geschift |page=30 |publisher=Prometheus |isbn=9789044620542}}</ref>

==Suggested rationales==
[[File:President Clinton's Remarks Regarding Columbine HS Shooting (1999).webm|thumb|[[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]]'s remarks regarding the shooting, April 20, 1999]]
[[File:President Clinton's Remarks to the Columbine High School Community.webm|thumb|President Clinton's speech to the school's community, May 20, 1999]]

There was controversy over whether Harris and Klebold should be memorialized. Some were opposed, saying that it glorified murderers, while others argued that Harris and Klebold were also victims. Atop a hill near Columbine High School, crosses were erected for Harris and Klebold along with those for the people they killed,<ref>{{cite web |title=Crosses for Harris, Klebold join 13 others |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0428cros1.shtml |first=Tillie |last=Fong |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=April 28, 1999 |access-date=August 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512083419/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0428cros1.shtml |archive-date=May 12, 2008 }}</ref> but the father of victim Daniel Rohrbough cut them down, saying that murderers should not be memorialized in the same place as victims.<ref>{{cite news |title=Authorities say Columbine shooters acted alone |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/01/school.shooting.03/index.html |date=May 1, 1999 |publisher=CNN |first=Charles |last=Zewe |access-date=June 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211044128/http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/01/school.shooting.03/index.html |archive-date=February 11, 2007}}</ref>

===Overview===
Harris and Klebold wrote some about how they would carry out the massacre, and less about why. Klebold penned a rough outline of plans to follow on April 20, and another slightly different one in a journal found in Harris's bedroom.<ref>{{cite news |title=Columbine Documents |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/900columbinedocs.pdf |work=Rocky Mountain News |access-date=August 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910091713/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/900columbinedocs.pdf |archive-date=September 10, 2008 }}</ref> In one entry on his computer, Harris referenced the [[Oklahoma City bombing]], and they mentioned their wish to outdo it by causing the most deaths in US history. They also mentioned how they would like to leave a lasting impression on the world with this kind of violence.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12370508 |title=Columbine killers' diaries offer chilling insight |date=July 7, 2006 |work=msnbc.com|access-date=July 20, 2018 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805120335/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12370508/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/columbine-killers-diaries-offer-chilling-insight/|archive-date=August 5, 2018|url-status=live }}</ref> Much speculation occurred over the date chosen for their attack. The original intended date of the attack may have been April 19; Harris required more ammunition from Mark Manes, who did not deliver it until the evening of April 19.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinton |first=Sam |chapter=Troubled Children: Dealing with Anger and Depression |title=Psychology of Children: Coping with the Dangerous Threats |publisher=Hammond |year=2012 |page=[https://archive.org/details/psychologyofterr00stou/page/20 20] |isbn=978-0-275-98207-2 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/psychologyofterr00stou/page/20}}</ref><ref name="Hinton">{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Ryckman |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0516bguy2.shtml |title=Demonic plan was months in making |newspaper=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |date=May 16, 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125214115/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0516bguy2.shtml |archive-date=January 25, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0819.htm |title=The Denver Post Online – Columbine – Tragedy and Recovery<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=December 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607001450/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0819.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harris and Klebold were both avid fans of [[KMFDM]], an [[industrial music|industrial]] band led by German multi-instrumentalist [[Sascha Konietzko]]. It was revealed that lyrics to KMFDM songs ("Son of a Gun", "Stray Bullet" and "Waste") were posted on Harris's website,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF8YAQAAIAAJ&q=KMFDM+songs |first=Scott |last=Wilson |title=Great Satan's Rage |chapter=Columbine |pages=138–139 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |location=Manchester, England |year=2008 |access-date=January 31, 2011 |isbn=978-0-7190-7463-9 |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921102259/https://books.google.com/books?id=nF8YAQAAIAAJ&q=KMFDM+songs |url-status=live }}</ref> and that the date of the massacre, April 20, coincided with both the release date of the album ''[[Adios (KMFDM album)|Adios]]''<ref name="MTV-speakout">{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427256/kmfdm-rammstein-speak-out-about-columbine.jhtml |title=KMFDM And Rammstein Speak Out About Columbine |publisher=[[MTV Networks]] |date=April 23, 1999 |access-date=January 31, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209222140/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427256/kmfdm-rammstein-speak-out-about-columbine.jhtml | archive-date=February 9, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and the birthday of [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name=nl.newsbank.com>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DN&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI%7CDN&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB5CE474D7991CD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Music Linked To Killings? |work=[[Philadelphia Daily News]] |publisher=[[Knight Ridder]]|date=April 22, 1999 |access-date=January 31, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523142622/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DN&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI%7CDN&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB5CE474D7991CD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | archive-date=May 23, 2013 | url-status=live}}</ref> Harris noted the coincidence of the album's title and April release date in his journal.<ref name="Erics_journal" /> In response, KMFDM's Konietzko issued a statement that KMFDM was "against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others" and that "none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever".<ref name="KMFDM1999">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/an-old-debate-emerges-in-wake-of-shooting-19990422 |author=Boehlert, Eric |title=An Old Debate Emerges in Wake of School Shooting |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=[[Wenner Media]] |location=New York City|date=April 23, 1999 |access-date=March 31, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714124258/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/an-old-debate-emerges-in-wake-of-shooting-19990422 | archive-date=July 14, 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref>

An April 22, 1999, article in ''The Washington Post'' described Harris and Klebold:

<blockquote>They hated jocks, admired Nazis and scorned normalcy. They fancied themselves devotees of the Gothic subculture, even though they thrilled to the violence denounced by much of that fantasy world. They were white supremacists, but loved music by [[anti-racist]] rock bands.<ref name=WaPo>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/suspects042299.htm |first1=Paul|last1=Duggan |first2=Michael D.|last2=Shear|first3=Marc|last3=Fisher |title=Shooter Pair Mixed Fantasy, Reality |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A1|date=April 22, 1999 | access-date=August 27, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604153617/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/suspects042299.htm | archive-date=June 4, 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

The attack occurred on Hitler's birthday, which led to speculation in the media. Some people, such as Robyn Anderson, who knew the perpetrators, stated that the pair were not obsessed with Nazism nor did they worship or admire Hitler in any way. Anderson stated, in retrospect, that there were many things the pair did not tell friends. In his journal, Harris mentioned his admiration of what he imagined to be [[natural selection]], and wrote that he would like to put everyone in a super ''Doom'' game and see to it that the weak die and the strong live.<ref name="Erics_journal" /> On the day of the massacre, Harris wore a white T-shirt with the words "Natural selection" printed in black.<ref name=USAToday/>

====Bullying====
At the end of Harris's last journal entry, he wrote: "I hate you people for leaving me out of so many fun things. And no don't fucking say, 'Well that's your fault,' because it isn't, you people had my phone number, and I asked and all, but no. No no no don't let the weird-looking Eric KID come along, ooh fucking nooo."<ref name=USAToday/> However, in another entry by Eric in his journal, he stated that even if he were complimented and respected more by his peers, the attack would've still, in all likelihood, occurred.<ref name=langman_16>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120065247/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf |archive-date=November 20, 2021 |url-status=live |quote=If people would give me more compliments all of this might still be avoidable... but probably not. |first=Peter |last=Langman |title=Eric Harris: The Search for Justification |date=3 February 2016}}</ref>

Similarly, Klebold wrote in his journal both about perceived rejection, bullying others, his desire to belong, and his extreme contempt for others. In January 1997, he wrote, "I am GOD compared to some of those un-existable [sic] brainless zombies," referring to his perception of the morons of the world. In March 1997, he wrote, "I do shit to supposedly ‘cleanse’ myself in a spiritual, moral sort of way... trying not to ridicule/make fun of people ([name omitted] at school), yet it does nothing to help my life morally."<ref>{{cite web |title=Dylan Klebold's Journal and Other Writings Transcribed and Annotated |url=https://schoolshooters.info/dylan-klebolds-journal-and-other-writings-transcribed-and-annotated |website=SchoolShooters.info |access-date=31 December 2023 |archive-date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231033632/https://schoolshooters.info/dylan-klebolds-journal-and-other-writings-transcribed-and-annotated |url-status=live }}</ref>

Klebold said on the Basement Tapes, "You've been giving us shit for years. You're fucking gonna pay for all the shit! We don't give a shit. Because we're gonna die doing it."<ref>{{cite episode |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwxoDRYJ7_M |series=Zero Hour |title=Massacre at Columbine High |season=1 |number=3 |network=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History]] |airdate=2004|access-date=June 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108181605/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwxoDRYJ7_M |archive-date=January 8, 2015|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=basement /> However, they also stated on the tapes that nobody is to blame and nobody could have prevented the attack.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf|title="Transcript of the Columbine "Basement Tapes"|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-date=July 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715180540/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf|url-status=live}}"There is nothing you guys could have done to prevent any of this. There is nothing that anyone could have done to prevent this. No one is to blame except me and Vodka [Klebold's nickname]. Our actions are a two man war against everyone else."</ref>

Accounts from various parents and school staffers describe bullying at the school as "rampant".<ref>{{cite news|first=Howard|last=Pankratz|date=October 3, 2000|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/col1003a.htm|title=Columbine bullying no myth, panel told|newspaper=[[Denver Post]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607090541/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/col1003a.htm |archive-date=June 7, 2013 }}</ref> Nathan Vanderau, a friend of Klebold, and Alisa Owen, Harris's eighth-grade science partner, reported that Harris and Klebold were constantly picked on. Vanderau noted that a "cup of fecal matter" was thrown at them.<ref name=UnderstandingWhy>{{YouTube|KikvzIlNg9g|''Investigative Reports: Columbine: Understanding Why''}}. [[A&E (TV channel)|A&E]]. 2002</ref> "People surrounded them in the commons and squirted ketchup packets all over them, laughing at them, calling them faggots", Brooks Brown says. "That happened while teachers watched. They couldn't fight back. They wore the ketchup all day and went home covered with it."<ref name=DenverWestword1/> In his book ''[[No Easy Answers|No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine]]'', Brown wrote that Harris was born with mild [[Pectus excavatum|chest indent]]. This made him reluctant to take his shirt off in gym class, and other students would laugh at him.<ref name=brooksbrown/>

"A lot of the tension in the school came from the class above us", Chad Laughlin states. "There were people fearful of walking by a table where you knew you didn't belong, stuff like that. Certain groups certainly got preferential treatment across the board. I caught the tail end of one really horrible incident, and I know Dylan told his mother that it was the worst day of his life." That incident, according to Laughlin, involved seniors pelting Klebold with "ketchup-covered tampons" in the commons.<ref name=DenverWestword2/> However, other commentators have disputed the theory that bullying was the motivating factor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421033120/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/ |archive-date=April 21, 2019 |url-status=live |title=Bullies and black trench coats: The Columbine shooting's most dangerous myths |first=Gillian |last=Brockell
|date=20 April 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Jeff Kass who has also published a book on the attack believes that bullying wasn't the cause.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/20/columbine.myths/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113151945/https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/20/columbine.myths/ |archive-date=November 13, 2023 |url-status=live |title=Debunking the myths of Columbine, 10 years later |work=CNN |first=Stephanie |last=Chen |date=20 April 2009}}</ref> [[Peter F. Langman|Peter Langman]] also argues against bullying being the cause of the attack.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/search_for_truth_at_columbine_2.2.pdf |title=The Search for Truth at Columbine |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-date=November 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120065255/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/search_for_truth_at_columbine_2.2.pdf |url-status=live |first=Peter |last=Langman |date=31 July 2014 |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref><ref name=langman_16 /> Other researchers have concurred.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564886.2017.1307295?journalCode=uvao20|doi=10.1080/15564886.2017.1307295|title=Columbine Revisited: Myths and Realities About the Bullying–School Shootings Connection|year=2017|last1=Mears|first1=Daniel P.|last2=Moon|first2=Melissa M.|last3=Thielo|first3=Angela J.|journal=Victims & Offenders|volume=12|issue=6|pages=939–955|s2cid=148745392|access-date=November 20, 2021|archive-date=November 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120065244/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564886.2017.1307295?journalCode=uvao20|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

====Journals and investigation====

Harris began keeping a journal in April 1998, a short time after the pair was charged with breaking into a van, for which each received ten months of juvenile intervention counseling and community service in January 1998. They began to formulate plans then, as reflected in their journals.<ref name="Hinton" />

Harris wanted to join the [[United States Marine Corps]], but his application was rejected shortly before the shootings because he was taking the drug [[fluvoxamine]], an [[Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor|SSRI]] [[antidepressant]], which he was required to take as part of court-ordered anger management therapy. Harris did not state in his application that he was taking any medications. According to the recruiting officer, Harris did not know about this rejection. Though some friends of Harris suggested that he had stopped taking the drug beforehand,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gibbs |first=Nancy |author2=Timothy Roche |title=The Columbine Tapes |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992873-3,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=December 20, 1999 |access-date=February 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208133616/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992873-3,00.html |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the autopsy reports showed low therapeutic or normal (not toxic or lethal) blood-levels of fluvoxamine in his system, which was around 0.0031–0.0087&nbsp;mg/ml,<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://gototrial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Therapeutic-and-Toxic-Drug-Levels.pdf |title=Drug and chemical blood-level data 2001 |author=Winek, Charles L. |journal=Forensic Science International |year=2001 |volume=122 |issue=2–3 |pages=107–123 |doi=10.1016/s0379-0738(01)00483-2 |pmid=11672964 | display-authors=etal | access-date=July 24, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806183208/http://gototrial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Therapeutic-and-Toxic-Drug-Levels.pdf | archive-date=August 6, 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref> at the time of death.<ref>{{cite web |author=Shepard, Cyn |url=http://acolumbinesite.com/eric.html |title=Eric David Harris |publisher=A Columbine Site |access-date=June 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012233111/http://acolumbinesite.com/eric.html|archive-date=October 12, 2011|url-status=live }}</ref> After the shootings, [[anti-psychiatry|opponents of contemporary psychiatry]] like [[Peter Breggin]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Breggin |first=Peter R. |url=http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=190 |title=Was School Shooter Eric Harris Taking Luvox? |date=April 30, 1999 |access-date=February 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928214018/http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=190. |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> claimed that the [[psychiatric medication]]s prescribed to Harris after his conviction may have exacerbated his aggressiveness.<ref name=Larkin>{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Ralph W. |title=Comprehending Columbine |url=https://archive.org/details/comprehendingcol00lark |url-access=limited |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/comprehendingcol00lark/page/n128 119] |isbn=978-1-59213-491-5}}</ref>

Klebold entitled his journal ''A Virtual Book: EXISTENCES''. Klebold's first journal entry was March 31, 1997, over a year prior to when Harris began his own writings, and in it, he talks about his depression and suicidal thoughts, over two years prior to the massacre.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/klebold_journal_1.2.pdf |title=Dylan Klebold's Journal and Other Writings |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611195228/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/klebold_journal_1.2.pdf |url-status=live |website=schoolshooters.info |first=Peter |last=Langman |date=24 March 2019}}</ref> For the rest of his writings, Klebold often wrote about his view that he and Harris were "god-like" and more highly evolved than every other human being, but his secret journal records the aforementioned self-loathing and suicidal intentions. Page after page was covered in hearts, as he was secretly in love with a Columbine student. Although both had difficulty controlling their anger, Klebold's anger had led to his being more prone to serious trouble than Harris. After their arrest, which both recorded as the most traumatic thing they had ever experienced, Klebold wrote a letter to Harris, saying how they would have so much fun getting revenge and killing police, and how his wrath from the January arrest would be "god-like". On the day of the massacre, Klebold wore a black T-shirt which had the word "WRATH" printed in red.<ref name=USAToday/> It was speculated that revenge for the arrest was a possible motive for the attack, and that the pair planned on having a massive gun battle with police during the shooting. Klebold wrote that life was no fun without a little death, and that he would like to spend the last moments of his life in nerve-wracking twists of murder and bloodshed. He concluded by saying that he would kill himself afterward in order to leave the world that he hated and go to a better place. Klebold was described as being "hotheaded, but depressive and suicidal".<ref name=Slate/>

Some of the home-recorded videos, called "The Basement Tapes", have reportedly been destroyed by police. Harris and Klebold reportedly discussed their motives for the attacks in these videos and gave instructions in bomb making. Police cite the reason for withholding these tapes as an effort to prevent them from becoming "call-to-arms" and "how-to" videos that could inspire [[copycat killer]]s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Grant|last=Duwe|title=Mass and Serial Murder in America|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|date=2007|isbn=978-3-31944280-8|page=41}}</ref> Some people have argued that releasing the tapes would be helpful, in terms of allowing psychologists to study them, which in turn could possibly help identify characteristics of future killers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westword.com/news/columbine-killers-basement-tapes-destroyed-6283043|title=Columbine Killers' Basement Tapes Destroyed|first=Alan|last=Prendergast|date=February 2, 2015|website=Westword|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723143912/https://www.westword.com/news/columbine-killers-basement-tapes-destroyed-6283043|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Media accounts====
{{See also|Marilyn Manson–Columbine High School massacre controversy}}

Initially,<ref name="nytimes"/> the shooters were believed to be members of a clique that called themselves the "Trench Coat Mafia", a small group of Columbine's self-styled outcasts who wore heavy black [[trench coats]]. Early reports described the members as also wearing German slogans and swastikas on their clothes.<ref name="nytimes"/> Additional media reports described the Trench Coat Mafia as a cult with ties to the neo-Nazi movement which fueled a media stigma and bias against the Trench Coat Mafia. The Trench Coat Mafia was a group of friends who hung out together, wore black trench coats, and prided themselves on being different from the 'jocks' who had been bullying the members and who also coined the name Trench Coat Mafia.<ref name="No easy answers">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |title=No easy answers: The truth behind death at Columbine |publisher=Lantern Books |author1=Brown, Brooks |author2=Merritt, Rob |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1/page/n67 68]–70 |isbn=1590560310 | access-date=September 23, 2016}}</ref> The trench coat inadvertently became the members' uniform after a mother of one of the members bought it as a present.<ref name="nytimes"/>

Investigation revealed that Harris and Klebold were only friends with one member of the group, Kristin Thiebault, and that most of the primary members of the Trench Coat Mafia had left the school by the time that Harris and Klebold committed the massacre. Most did not know the shooters, apart from their association with Thiebault, and none were considered suspects in the shootings or were charged with any involvement in the incident.<ref name="nytimes"/>

[[Marilyn Manson]] was blamed by the media in the wake of the Columbine shooting, and responded to criticism in an interview with [[Michael Moore]], in which he was asked, "If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine and the people in the community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?", to which he replied, "I wouldn't say a single word to them—I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did", referring to people ignoring [[Red flag (idiom)|red flags]] that rose from Harris and Klebold prior to the shooting.<ref name="BFC">{{cite video |date=October 11, 2002 |people=[[Michael Moore]] interviewing [[Marilyn Manson]] |title=[[Bowling for Columbine]] |medium=Documentary |publisher=[[MGM]] |location=Los Angeles, California |time=<!-- please insert the time, in the film's runtime, at which the quotation occurs -->}}</ref>

====Psychological analysis====
Although early media reports attributed the shootings to a desire for revenge on the part of Harris and Klebold for [[bullying]] that they received, subsequent psychological analysis indicated Harris and Klebold harbored serious psychological problems. Harris and Klebold were never diagnosed with any mental disorders, which is overwhelmingly uncommon in mass shooters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/looking-into-the-minds-of-eric-harris-and-dylan-klebold-WMSQHsoymjDbq5om/|title=Looking into the minds of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold|website=Police1|date=April 18, 2014 |access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611032428/https://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/looking-into-the-minds-of-eric-harris-and-dylan-klebold-WMSQHsoymjDbq5om/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Supervisory Special Agent Dwayne Fuselier, the FBI's lead Columbine investigator and a [[clinical psychology|clinical psychologist]], Harris exhibited a pattern of grandiosity, contempt, and lack of empathy or remorse, distinctive traits of [[psychopath]]s that he concealed through deception. Fuselier adds that Harris engaged in mendacity not merely to protect himself, as Harris rationalized in his journal, but also for pleasure, as seen when Harris expressed his thoughts in his journal regarding how he and Klebold avoided prosecution for breaking into a van. Other leading psychiatrists concur that Harris was a psychopath.<ref name=Slate/>

According to psychologist Peter Langman, Klebold displayed signs of [[schizotypal personality disorder]] – he struck many people as odd due to his shy nature, appeared to have had disturbed thought processes and constantly misused language in unusual ways as evidenced by his journal. He appeared to have been delusional, viewed himself as "god-like", and wrote that he was "made a human without the possibility of BEING human." He was also convinced that others hated him and felt like he was being conspired against, even though according to many reports, Klebold was loved by his family and friends.<ref>{{Citation |last=Langman |first=Peter |title=Rampage School Shooters: A Typology | orig-year = 2010 |year=2016 |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/rampage_school_shooters_typology_1.2.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712111604/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/rampage_school_shooters_typology_1.2.pdf | archive-date = July 12, 2019 | access-date = July 12, 2019 | url-status = live}}</ref>

==Lawsuits==
In April 2001, the families of more than 30 victims were given shares in a $2,538,000<!--source rounded figure to nearest ten-thousands--> settlement by the families of the perpetrators, and the two men convicted of supplying the weapons used in the massacre. The Harrises and the Klebolds contributed $1,568,000 to the settlement from their own homeowners' policies, Manes contributed $720,000, and Duran contributed $250,000. The Harrises and the Klebolds were ordered to guarantee an additional $32,000 be available against any future claims. Manes was ordered to hold $80,000 against future claims, and Duran was ordered to hold $50,000.<ref name="NYTimes Settlement">{{cite news |date=April 20, 2001 |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |title=$2.53 Million Deal Ends Some Columbine Lawsuits |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/us/2.53-million-deal-ends-some-columbine-lawsuits.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124105414/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/us/2.53-million-deal-ends-some-columbine-lawsuits.html |archive-date=January 24, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

One family had filed a $250-million lawsuit against the Harrises and Klebolds in 1999 and did not accept the 2001 settlement terms. A judge ordered the family to accept a $366,000 settlement in June 2003.<ref name="2013 timeline">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-shootings-fast-facts/ |date=September 19, 2013 |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=January 13, 2014 |title=Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013230548/http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-shootings-fast-facts |archive-date=October 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/27/columbine.lawsuit.02/ |date=May 27, 1999 |title=$250&nbsp;million Columbine lawsuit filed |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=January 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113142645/http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/27/columbine.lawsuit.02/ |archive-date=January 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2003, the families of five other victims received undisclosed settlements from the Harrises and Klebolds.<ref name="2013 timeline" />

==Reaction of Sue Klebold==
[[Sue Klebold]], mother of Dylan Klebold, initially was in denial about Klebold's involvement in the massacre, believing he was tricked by Harris into doing it, among other things. Six months later, she saw the Basement Tapes made by Harris and Klebold and acknowledged that Klebold was equally responsible for the killings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/14/columbine-sue-klebold-mothers-reckoning-extract |title='Dylan had killed children in cold blood': Life after the Columbine massacre |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=February 14, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821095422/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/14/columbine-sue-klebold-mothers-reckoning-extract |archive-date=August 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> She spoke about the Columbine High School massacre publicly for the first time in an essay that appeared in the October 2009 issue of ''[[O: The Oprah Magazine]]''. In the piece, Klebold wrote: "For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the horror and anguish Dylan caused", and "Dylan changed everything I believed about myself, about God, about family, and about love." Stating that she had no clue of her son's intentions, she said: "Once I saw his journals, it was clear to me that Dylan entered the school with the intention of dying there."<ref name=silence>{{cite web |last=Klebold |first=Susan |url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/susan-klebolds-o-magazine-essay-i-will-never-know-why |title=I Will Never Know Why |work=[[O, The Oprah Magazine]] |date=November 2009 |access-date=October 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218192008/http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Susan-Klebolds-O-Magazine-Essay-I-Will-Never-Know-Why |archive-date=February 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Andrew Solomon]]'s 2012 book ''[[Far from the Tree]]'', she acknowledged that on the day of the massacre, when she discovered that Klebold was one of the shooters, she prayed he would kill himself (before committing mass murder). "I had a sudden vision of what he might be doing. And so while every other mother in Littleton was praying that her child was safe, I had to pray that mine would die before he hurt anyone else."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/columbine-shooter-dylan-klebold-8217-parents-speak-191300537.html |title=Columbine Shooter Dylan Klebold's Parents Speak Out |date=November 14, 2012 |archive-date=November 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129202158/http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/columbine-shooter-dylan-klebold-8217-parents-speak-191300537.html |access-date=December 9, 2012}}</ref>

In February 2016, Klebold published a memoir, titled ''[[A Mother's Reckoning]]'', about her experiences before and after the massacre.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbine-shooters-mother-sue-klebold-hold-1st-tv/story?id=32640658 |title=Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold's mother to hold first TV interview |work=ABC News |date=July 23, 2015 |access-date=December 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106053155/https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbine-shooters-mother-sue-klebold-hold-1st-tv/story?id=32640658 |archive-date=January 6, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Klebold |first1=Sue |title=A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy |year=2016 |publisher=Amazon.com|isbn=978-1101902752 }}</ref> It was co-written by Laura Tucker and included an introduction by [[National Book Award]] winner [[Andrew Solomon]]. It received very favorable reviews, including from the ''New York Times Book Review''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/books/review/inside-the-new-york-times-book-review-podcast-a-mothers-reckoning.html?_r=0 |title=Inside The New York Times Book Review Podcast: 'A Mother's Reckoning' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 26, 2016 |access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325160152/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/books/review/inside-the-new-york-times-book-review-podcast-a-mothers-reckoning.html?_r=0|archive-date=March 25, 2016|url-status=live }}</ref> It peaked at No. 2 on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lauratuckerbooks.com/2-New-York-Times-bestseller-Mesmerizing-heart-stopping-I-beseech |title=#2 New York Times bestseller: "Mesmerizing, heart-stopping. I beseech" |website=lauratuckerbooks.com |access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029125917/http://lauratuckerbooks.com/2-New-York-Times-bestseller-Mesmerizing-heart-stopping-I-beseech|archive-date=October 29, 2016|url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 2, 2017, Klebold posted a [[TED (conference)|TED Talk]] titled, "My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story."<ref>{{cite web |last=Klebold |first=Sue |title=My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story |date=February 2, 2017 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story |access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204064633/http://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story|archive-date=February 4, 2017|url-status=live }}</ref> As of January 2024, the video has over 12.1 million views. The site listed Klebold's occupation as "activist", and stated: "Sue Klebold has become a passionate agent working to advance mental health awareness and intervention."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Klebold |first1=Sue |title=A Note from Sue Klebold |url=https://www.amothersreckoning.com/a-note-from-sue-klebold |website=amothersreckoning.com |publisher=A Mother's Reckoning |access-date=August 1, 2020 |ref=[[Sue Klebold]] |archive-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814001521/https://www.amothersreckoning.com/a-note-from-sue-klebold |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{Main|Columbine effect}}

[[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]] describes the legacy of Harris and Klebold as deadly, as they have inspired several instances of mass killings in the United States and globally. ''Napa Valley Register'' have called the pair "cultural icons".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://napavalleyregister.com/news/columbine-killers-becoming-cultural-icons-to-some-researchers-say/article_7231b5aa-424c-5c67-8f13-2d6ee09f82b4.html |title=Columbine killers becoming cultural icons to some, researchers say |date=April 16, 2001 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629052135/https://napavalleyregister.com/news/columbine-killers-becoming-cultural-icons-to-some-researchers-say/article_7231b5aa-424c-5c67-8f13-2d6ee09f82b4.html |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Author of [[Columbine (book)|''Columbine'']], [[Dave Cullen]], called Harris and Klebold the fathers of the movement for disenfranchised youth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48QbkER7b0s |title=Columbine, Colorado |website=[[YouTube]] |date=April 29, 2018 |access-date=September 6, 2019 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107114007/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48QbkER7b0s |url-status=live }}</ref> Harris and Klebold have also, as [[CNN]] referred to, left their inevitable mark on pop culture.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/20/columbine.pop.culture/index.html|title=Columbine left its indelible mark on pop culture - CNN.com|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=September 6, 2019|archive-date=October 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030092718/http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/20/columbine.pop.culture/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Copycats===
The Columbine shooting influenced several subsequent school shootings, with many praising Harris and Klebold.<ref name=tape>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.state.co.us:80/columbine/Appendix_E.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207005715/http://www.state.co.us/columbine/Appendix_E.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2012 |title=The Columbine Tapes |first1=Nancy |last1=Gibbs |first2=Timothy |last2=Roche |date=December 20, 1999 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=June 30, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Cho Seung-Hui]], who perpetrated the [[Virginia Tech shooting]], called them "martyrs".<ref name=hands>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/18/vtech.nbc/ |title=Shooter: 'You have blood on your hands' |date=April 18, 2007 |access-date=October 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018123847/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/18/vtech.nbc/|archive-date=October 18, 2014|url-status=live |publisher=CNN}}</ref> In some cases, it has led to the closure of entire school districts.<ref name="inter">{{cite web |url=http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/intermittent.html |title=Intermittent Explosive Disorder |publisher=mayhem.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220034110/http://mayhem.net/Crime/intermittent.html|archive-date=December 20, 2010|url-status=live|access-date=March 11, 2011}}</ref> According to psychiatrist [[E. Fuller Torrey]] of the [[Treatment Advocacy Center]], a legacy of the Columbine shootings is its "allure to disaffected youth".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/us/minnesota-foiled-school-massacre-john-ladue/index.html |title=The massacre that didn't happen |last=Drash |first=Wayne |date=November 3, 2015 |access-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402011921/http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/us/minnesota-foiled-school-massacre-john-ladue/index.html|archive-date=April 2, 2017|url-status=live |website=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

Ralph Larkin examined twelve major school shootings in the US in the following eight years and found that in eight of those, "the shooters made explicit reference to Harris and Klebold."<ref name="yorker">{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence |title=Thresholds of Violence, How school shootings catch on |last=Gladwell |first=Malcolm |date=October 19, 2015 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=April 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327011302/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence|archive-date=March 27, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Larkin wrote that the Columbine massacre established a "[[Play (theatre)|script]]" for shootings. "Numerous post-Columbine rampage shooters referred directly to Columbine as their inspiration; others attempted to supersede the Columbine shootings in body count."<ref name=larkin2009>{{cite journal |last=Larkin |first=Ralph W. |s2cid=144049077 |year=2009 |title=The Columbine legacy: Rampage shootings as political acts |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247751861|url-status=live |journal=[[American Behavioral Scientist]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|location=Thousand Oaks, California|volume=52 |pages=1309–1326|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403013535/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247751861_The_Columbine_LegacyRampage_Shootings_as_Political_Acts|archive-date=April 3, 2017 |access-date=April 2, 2017 |number=9|doi=10.1177/0002764209332548 }}</ref>

A 2015 investigation by [[CNN]] identified "more than 40 people&nbsp;... charged with Columbine-style plots." A 2014 investigation by [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] identified "at least 17 attacks and another 36 alleged plots or serious threats against schools since the assault on Columbine High School that can be tied to the 1999 massacre." Ties identified by ABC News included online research by the perpetrators into the Columbine shooting, clipping news coverage and images of Columbine, explicit statements of admiration of Harris and Klebold, such as writings in journals and on social media, in video posts,{{efn|In 2012, sociologist Nathalie E. Paton of the [[Centre national de la recherche scientifique|National Center for Scientific Research]] in Paris analyzed the videos created by post-Columbine school shooting perpetrators. A recurring set of motifs was found, including explicit statements of admiration and identification with previous perpetrators. Paton said the videos serve the perpetrators by distinguishing themselves from their classmates and associating themselves with the previous perpetrators.<ref name="yorker" /><ref>{{cite book |title=School shootings: Mediatized violence in a global age |last=Paton |first=Nathalie E. |publisher=[[Emerald Group Publishing]] |year=2012 |isbn=9781780529196 |editor-last1=Muschert |editor-first1=Glenn W. |volume=7 |pages=203–229 |chapter=Media participation of school shooters and their fans: Navigating between self-distinction and imitation to achieve individuation |access-date=April 2, 2017 |editor-last2=Sumiala |editor-first2=Johanna |chapter-url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/835850/filename/Paton-Media_Participation_of_School_Shooters_and_their_Fans.pdf |archive-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418081747/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/835850/filename/Paton-Media_Participation_of_School_Shooters_and_their_Fans.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>}} and in police interviews, timing planned to an anniversary of Columbine, plans to exceed the Columbine victim counts, and other ties.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbine-shootings-grim-legacy-50-school-attacks-plots/story?id=26007119 |title=Columbine Shootings' Grim Legacy: More Than 50 School Attacks, Plots |last1=Thomas |first1=Pierre |date=October 7, 2014 |access-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417084412/https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbine-shootings-grim-legacy-50-school-attacks-plots/story?id=26007119|archive-date=April 17, 2017|url-status=live |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |last2=Levine |first2=Mike |last3=Cloherty |first3=Jack |last4=Date |first4=Jack|author-link1=Pierre Thomas (journalist)}}</ref> 60 mass shootings have been carried out, where the perpetrators had made at least a single reference to Harris and Klebold.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_influence_poster_1.4.pdf |title=The Influence of Columbine |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-date=February 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221145656/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_influence_poster_1.4.pdf |url-status=live |first=Peter |last=Langman |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref>

In 2015, Canadian journalist [[Malcolm Gladwell]] writing in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine proposed a [[threshold model]] of school shootings in which Harris and Klebold were the triggering actors in "a slow-motion, ever-evolving riot, in which each new participant's action makes sense in reaction to and in combination with those who came before."<ref name="yorker" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-says-school-shootings-are-slow-moving-riots-2015-10 |title=Malcolm Gladwell says the school shooting epidemic is like a slow-moving riot |last=Weller |first=Chris |date=October 13, 2015 |access-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418081232/http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-says-school-shootings-are-slow-moving-riots-2015-10|archive-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=live |website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>

In 2024, Natalie Rupnow, who carried out the [[Abundant Life Christian School shooting]] in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], was revealed to have worn a [[KMFDM]] shirt like Harris, which suggested that she may have intended to copycat Harris when she carried out the shooting.<ref name=kmfdmtshirt>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Sarah |date=2024-12-17 |title=Natalie Rupnow Pictured Wearing Same Shirt As Columbine Shooter |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/natalie-rupnow-pictured-wearing-same-kmfdm-shirt-columbine-shooter-coincidence-copy-cat-1729601 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=International Business Times UK |language=en |archive-date=December 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217130143/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/natalie-rupnow-pictured-wearing-same-kmfdm-shirt-columbine-shooter-coincidence-copy-cat-1729601 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Fandom===
Harris and Klebold have also spawned a [[fandom]] who call themselves "Columbiners", mostly apparent on blogging site [[Tumblr]]. While some just have a scholarly interest in the pair or the event, the vast majority of these individuals, mostly young women, express a sympathetic, or sometimes even [[Hybristophilia|sexual interest]], in Harris and Klebold.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/speaking-to-columbiners-about-depression-suicide-and-the-halifax-shooting-plot-232/|title=Inside the World of Columbine-Obsessed Tumblr Bloggers|website=Vice.com|date=February 24, 2015 |access-date=June 23, 2019|archive-date=June 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623232157/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwpd4n/speaking-to-columbiners-about-depression-suicide-and-the-halifax-shooting-plot-232|url-status=live}}</ref> There has been [[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] art drawn of the two, fan fiction created on the pair's future together had they not gone through with the shooting and costumes created on the outfits Harris and Klebold sported the day of the shootings.<ref name="ati">{{cite web|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/columbiners-sol-pais|title=Enter The World Of Online Fans Who Are Infatuated With The Columbine Shooters|date=April 19, 2019|website=All That's Interesting|access-date=June 23, 2019|archive-date=June 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623232156/https://allthatsinteresting.com/columbiners-sol-pais|url-status=live}}</ref>

"I relate to their feelings of hopelessness, being angry and not being able to change it, and wanting to be accepted and appreciated", an 18-year-old Tumblr user wrote on Harris and Klebold. "No one noticed they were struggling, and no one took their suffering seriously", added another user. A news site called "All That's Interesting" said on the fandom, "Many of these Columbiners have no positive feelings about the massacre, but are instead focused on the troubled inner lives of its perpetrators because they see themselves in them."<ref name="ati" /> The fandom has received criticism for heroizing Harris and Klebold and allegedly inspiring shooting plots such as the [[Halifax mass shooting plot]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/20/cult-of-columbine-how-the-high-school-shooting-motivated-a-murder-plot|title=The cult of Columbine: how an obsession with school shooters led to a murder plot|first=Rachel|last=Monroe |author-link=Rachel Monroe |newspaper=The Guardian |date=August 20, 2019|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=March 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321131237/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/20/cult-of-columbine-how-the-high-school-shooting-motivated-a-murder-plot|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Media about the duo===
The 2002 [[Michael Moore]] documentary film ''[[Bowling for Columbine]]'' focuses heavily on a perceived American obsession with handguns, its grip on [[Jefferson County, Colorado]], and its role in the shooting.

In 2004, the shooting was dramatized in the documentary ''[[Zero Hour (2004 TV series)|Zero Hour]]'', in which Harris and Klebold are played by Ben Johnson and Josh Young, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0754392/|title=Massacre at Columbine High|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=July 25, 2020|archive-date=March 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303130256/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0754392/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, [[game designer]] [[Danny Ledonne]] created a [[role-playing game|role-playing video game]] where the player assumes the role of Harris and Klebold during the massacre, entitled ''[[Super Columbine Massacre RPG!]]''.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Vaughan, Kevin |author2=Brian Crecente |date=May 16, 2006 |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4702205,00.html |title=Video game reopens Columbine wounds; Parents of victims are horrified; creator says it's for 'real dialogue' |work=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |access-date=January 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614003657/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_4702205%2C00.html |archive-date=June 14, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The game received substantial media backlash for allegedly glorifying the pair's actions.<!--Invalid reference name<ref name="washingtonpost-shock anger over"/>--> The father of one victim remarked to the press that the game "disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |date=May 20, 2006 |title=Columbine game disgusts families |work=[[The Evening Standard]] |page=14}}</ref>

The 2016 biographical film ''[[I'm Not Ashamed]]'', based on the journals of Rachel Scott, includes glimpses of Harris's and Klebold's lives and of interactions between them and other students at Columbine High School. Harris is played by David Errigo Jr. and Klebold is played by Cory Chapman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metro.us/im-not-ashamed-is-better-than-it-looks-but-also-bad-and-offensive/|title='I'm Not Ashamed' is better than it looks (but also bad and offensive)|website=Metro US|date=October 21, 2016 |access-date=July 2, 2020|archive-date=July 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703054538/https://www.metro.us/im-not-ashamed-is-better-than-it-looks-but-also-bad-and-offensive/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Fiction inspired by the duo===
The 2003 [[Gus Van Sant]] film ''[[Elephant (2003 film)|Elephant]]'' depicts a fictional school shooting, some of whose details were based on the Columbine massacre, such as one scene in which one of the young killers walks into the evacuated school cafeteria and pauses to take a sip from a drink left behind, as Harris did during the shooting.<ref name=UnderstandingWhy/><ref>{{cite news |author=Doland, Angela |title=2003: Shades of Columbine |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/ |work=[[CBS News]] |date=May 21, 2003|access-date=June 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120165506/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/21/entertainment/cannes/main554996.shtml|archive-date=November 20, 2010|url-status=live }}</ref> In the film, the killers are called "Alex and Eric" after the actors who portray them, [[Alex Frost]] and Eric Deulen.

In the 2003 [[Ben Coccio]] film ''[[Zero Day (2003 film)|Zero Day]]'', which was inspired by the Columbine shooting, two shooters are played by Andre Keuck and [[Cal Robertson]] and called "Andre and Calvin" after their actors.<ref>{{cite web |first=Amy |last=Roeder |title=Zero Score |url=http://www.newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/02september/zeroday.htm |publisher=New England Film |date=September 1, 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205111318/http://newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/02september/zeroday.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[God complex]]
* [[List of attacks related to secondary schools]]
* [[List of school shootings in the United States (before 2000)|List of school shootings in the United States]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Brooks |last=Brown |author2=Rob Merritt |title=No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine |url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |publisher=Lantern Books |year=2002 |isbn=1-59056-031-0}}
* {{cite book |first=Dave |last=Cullen |title=Columbine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQtmAgAAQBAJ |publisher=TwelveBooks |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-446-54693-5}}
* {{cite journal|author=Daggett, Chelsea|url=https://www.participations.org/Volume%2012/Issue%202/4.pdf|title=Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold: Antiheroes for outcasts|journal=[[Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies]]|volume=12|issue=2|date=November 2015|issn=1749-8716|access-date=August 23, 2020|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606063319/https://www.participations.org/Volume%2012/Issue%202/4.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book |first=Ralph W. |last=Larkin |title=Comprehending Columbine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0t_mo8UQox8C |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59213-491-5}}
* {{cite journal|last=Rico|first=Andrew Ryan|url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/671|title=Fans of Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold|journal=[[Transformative Works and Cultures]]|date=September 1, 2015|volume=20|doi=10.3983/twc.2015.0671 |doi-access=free}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|Columbine High School massacre|auto=yes}}
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080629093128/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/littleton/index_1.html Crimelibrary feature]
*{{IMDb name | id= 1286159 | name= Eric Harris }}
*{{IMDb name | id= 1287666 | name= Dylan Klebold }}

{{Bullying}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Eric}}
[[Category:1981 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:1999 suicides]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American mass murderers]]
[[Category:American murderers of children]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Bombers (people)]]
[[Category:Bullying and suicide]]
[[Category:Columbine High School alumni]]
[[Category:Columbine High School massacre]]
[[Category:Criminals from Colorado]]
[[Category:Joint suicides]]
[[Category:Male murder–suicide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Mass murderer duos]]
[[Category:Murder–suicides in Colorado]]
[[Category:People from Littleton, Colorado]]
[[Category:People from the Denver metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in Colorado]]
[[Category:Youth suicides in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American murderers]]