Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 06:33:35 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Details
- Mass Shooting
- Columbine High School
- Municipality
- Columbine
- State
- Colorado – CO
- Zip Code
- 80123
- Region
- West
- Division
- Mountain
- Incident Date
- April 20, 1999
- Venue Type
- School-Public (9-12)
- Killed
- 13
- Injured
- 24
Ranking Data
- Preventable Factors/Rankings
- Blatant Rankings - Points Doubled
- 0
- Preventable Rankings Score
- 13
- Preventable Status
- Minimally Preventable
Preventable Factors
- Preventable Factor Details
Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 06:33:35 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Takeaway(s):
—System failure in this case, mostly the lack of follow through and follow up, including by law enforcement and school officials, is inexcusable.
—The minimum age to purchase any gun should be 21 and the introduced federal law (H.R.1006 – Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2021) needs to be enacted into law.
Incident Preventable Factor(s):
—Behavioral Red Flags Ignored/Response Delayed – Perpetrator(s) Was in Directed and Overt Incident Preparatory Mode and Behavioral Red Flags Ignored/Response Delayed – Perpetrator(s) Expressed Suicidal Ideation and/or Suicide by Police and/or Expressed Violent Intentions Privately and/or Publicly in Person and/or In Any Medium and Criminal Justice System Failures – Law Enforcement Failure – Delayed/Ignored/or No Follow-up to Telltale Perpetrator(s) Event(s) Preceding Incident:
After Brown’s parents (parents of a student) viewed the site (Website), they contacted the Jefferson County (Jeffco) Sheriff’s Department on August 7, 1997. When investigator Michael Guerra accessed the Website, he discovered numerous violent threats directed against the students and teachers of Columbine High School. Guerra wrote a draft affidavit, requesting a search warrant of the perpetrator’s house. The affidavit also mentioned the discovery of an exploded pipe bomb, and a suspicion of the perpetrator being involved in the unsolved case. The affidavit was never submitted to a judge, so no search warrant was ever issued, so the Jefferson County (Jeffco) Sheriff’s Department never searched, or even visited the perpetrator’s house. It was April of 1998, a full year before the incident. 1
The school [Columbine High School] had a security plan that required school officials to notify and meet with parents and law enforcement officers as soon as they learned of “a threat by any student” to “commit any act of violence.” They (school district officials) say Columbine High School didn’t follow the plan. It further states that the plan goes into effect when a student threatens “to kill another student or commit any act of violence.” That standard was not applied to the perpetrator. 2
“There were too many red flags in [perpetrator’s] behavior to simply ignore them: obvious signs of depression and withdrawal, a felony arrest, a suspension from high school for computer hacking, and an English paper that prompted his teacher to discuss its abnormal content with his parents, who did nothing. His English paper was a blueprint for a massacre. “[The perpetrator] should have been sent immediately to a qualified psychiatrist. His best friend, [the other perpetrator], was in therapy, and [the other perpetrator’s] parents knew early on about at least one of the pipe bombs [the other perpetrator] was making.” 3
“While being interviewed, a friend of the boys named Brooks Brown said “‘perpetrator and perpetrator are the ones responsible for creating this tragedy … However, Columbine is responsible for creating perpetrator and perpetrator.'” (Brown and Merritt 163).
“Despite the many errors made both within the school system and in the media, it by no means justifies the actions of the gunmen. No matter how bullied they were, no matter how judged they were, they still murdered 13 innocent people and injured 24 more.” 4
—Gun Laws Inadequate – Inadequate Gun Law(s) Contributed to Perpetrator(s) Execution of the Incident:
“Three of the four guns used in the 1999 attack at Columbine High School were purchased legally at the time, through unregulated sales at a gun show. The perpetrators bought a fourth gun illegally from a 22-year-old man they met through a mutual acquaintance.
A girlfriend of one of the Columbine gunmen, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher on April 20, 1999, bought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun, along with a 9mm semiautomatic carbine, at the Tanner Gun Show. She was 18, while perpetrator and perpetrator were both 17.” 5
—Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s) – Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s):
As illustrated.
Editor’s Note:
The ranking Criminal Justice System Failures – Law Enforcement Failure – Delayed Response or Inaction to Perpetrator(s) at Incident Scene hasn’t been applied in this case. The police didn’t immediately pursue the perpetrators (which they would do now) because their standard operating procedure (SOP) and protocols didn’t allow them to do so.
“Another question of protocol concerned the school resource officer, with whom the gunmen exchanged gunfire outside before storming the school, DeAngelis [Then-Columbine High School Principal Frank DeAngelis] said. Following protocol, the officer didn’t enter the building. But if the officer had followed them inside, ‘there’s a good chance’ the gunmen wouldn’t have reached the library, where so many classmates were targeted, DeAngelis said.”
“‘One of the big issues in Columbine [High School] was law enforcement wasn’t trained to go after the shooter,’ said Garrett, the former FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agent. Instead of immediately confronting the threat and racing into the building, police secured the scene and waited for SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] teams to arrive, which allowed the gunmen to continue to fire inside.”
“Forty-eight minutes ticked by at Columbine [High School] before SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] entered the building, DeAngelis said, as the officers first had to get their gear at their precincts—leaving DeAngelis and the police at the scene feeling helpless.” 6
Source(s):
1. None. Last Edited May 29, 2021. “Columbine High School Massacre”. Wikipedia. Retereived May 29, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre.
2. Kohn, David. April 17, 2001. “Columbine: Were There Warning Signs?”. CBS News – 60 Minutes. Retereived May 29, 2021, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbine-were-there-warning-signs/.
3. (Editor’s Note: This source is a Letter to the Editor.)
Kraft, Canning C. None. “There Were Too Many Warning Signs Before Columbine to Ignore” – Regarding Sue Klebold’s February 28, 2016, Sunday Opinion Essay “It Was Far Too Easy for My Son to Buy Guns”. The Washington Post. Retereived May 29, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/there-were-too-many-warning-signs-before-columbine-to-ignore/2016/03/01/f6063bf6-df0a-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced_story.html.
4. Baker, Grace. November 11, 2019. “What Went Wrong?: Columbine”. Medium. Retrieved May 29, 2019, from https://medium.com/hope-in-the-dark/what-went-wrong-columbine-98b49dc9c502.
5. Brown, Jennifer; Lubbers, Eric; and Worthington, Danika. April 12, 2021. “Where Did They Get the Guns? A Comprehensive Look at Colorado’s History of Public Gun Violence”. The Colorado Sun. Retereived May 29, 2021, from https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/12/guns-used-in-colorado-mass-shootings/.
6. Shapiro, Emily. April 20, 2019. “20 years after Columbine, what’s changed — and what hasn’t — for school shootings in America”. ABC News. Retereived May 29, 2021, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/20-years-columbine-changed-school-shootings-america/story?id=62248885.
Fluidity
- Criminal Case Pending?
- Civil Litigation Pending?
- Trending
- ⯀
Administrative Information
- Credible Source Inquires?
- 6
- Are Credible Source Inquires Inline Endnotes?
- Assessment Status?
- Complete
- Editorial Board Approval?
Record Information
- Last Updated
- Lexar
- Record ID
- 15
- Private ID
- ZJNZX2S
- Date Recorded
- 2021-05-29 13:24:50
- Date Updated
- 2023-10-24 04:31:33
- Last Accessed
- Type Designation