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April 20, 1999 — The Columbine Massacre

by rocknroll_ic86lw · October 29, 2013

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, with murder on their minds. The pair were students at the school, but socially isolated. At 11:19 AM, the pair opened fire. By the time they stopped shooting, a little under a half hour later, they had killed 13 people and injured 21 others (3 more people sustained injuries fleeing the pair). At approximately 12:08 PM, the pair finished their rampage by committing suicide.

In the aftermath, the entire American nation descended into a storm of grief and anger. Rumours and blame-throwing flew thick and fast, as a desperate search for an explanation (or, if you’re more cynical, a scapegoat), chased its own tail around and around and around, while the victims of the slayings became martyrs and the killers the greatest villains since Hitler.

More than a decade later, we know little more than we did then. Although several rumours regarding the killings have been thoroughly debunked, many of these remain widely believed. Short of a combination of telepathy and time travel, we will never know.

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