Local churches felt a surge following Columbine. Attendance spiked, fervor was unprecedented. It faded. Pastors reported no long-term impact.
The Harrises and Klebolds remained secluded. The Harrises eventually sold their house, but remained in the area. The Klebolds have not moved. In July of 2006, Dylan’s older brother, Byron, got married.
Kids at Columbine stopped using the word as the name of a massacre. It became just a high school again. Smokers returned to chatting up adult strangers who strolled through Clement Park near their pit. It did not occur to them to be afraid.
When a journalist stopped by to assess the return to normalcy, they were puzzled. Why would anyone be interested in their boring school? They really didn’t know. Their faces lit up when they discovered he was from the city. What were the clubs like? Had he been to Colfax Avenue? Were there really strip clubs and winos and hookers there?
Of course they remembered the tragedy. What an awful day. Their grade schools were locked down, everyone was scared. Several had had older siblings trapped in the high school. Their parents had been upset for months. So what was Denver like?
Mr. D had two grandchildren. His son settled into a career and his daughter got engaged. Frank didn’t let Diane Meyer get away the second time. After his divorce, they reunited in person. She was just as funny as in high school. Same blue eyes, same insightful mind and selflessness. “Someone to lean on,” Frank said. They began dating again. On Christmas Eve 2003, Frank asked her to marry him. She said yes. They remain engaged.
Mr. D informed his students he planned to retire. He will stay through graduation in 2012, or 2013. He will be fifty-seven or fifty-eight. He’s not sure what he’ll do then. Golf, travel, enjoy.
Linda Sanders pulled out of her depression. She still has rough days, but not so often. By 2008, she was dating again.
The memorial felt like the final step. One last controversy marred its completion. In the spring of 2007, as bulldozers carved out the site on the back slope of Rebel Hill, Brian Rohrbough went to battle with the memorial committee. An inner Ring of Remembrance honored the Thirteen in a special way. The larger Ring of Healing that surrounded it would bear quotes from students, teachers, friends, neighbors—everyone touched by the tragedy, whether or not a bullet actually pierced their skin. Each of the thirteen families was allocated a space on the inner ring for a large inscription in the brown marble to remember their child, father, or spouse. They were asked to keep it tasteful and respectful.
Twelve and a half families agreed. Sue Petrone and Brian Rohrbough submitted separate inscriptions for Danny, to be run side by side. Sue described her boy’s blue eyes, engaging smile, and infectious laugh. Brian submitted an angry rant blaming Columbine on a godless school system in a nation that legalized abortion where authorities lied and covered up their crimes. He ended with a biblical quote, declaring, There is no peace for the wicked.
The committee asked Brian to tone it down. He refused. Both sides agreed to keep the wording confidential, but the gist of the dispute leaked. It caused yet another firestorm in Colorado. The public was split. A standoff ensued. Nobody wanted an angry tirade inside the Ring of Remembrance. The committee had the power to stop it. Brian dared them to do it.
It was no contest. Even after eight years, nothing trumped a grieving dad.
The Columbine memorial was dedicated on a sunny afternoon in September 2007. A few thousand visitors filed quietly past the inner wall. There was no ruckus over the angry inscription. It did not draw more onlookers than the other twelve, even out of curiosity. There was no discernible reaction. No one seemed to care.
Patrick Ireland spoke on behalf of the injured. “The shootings were an event that occurred,” he said. “But it did not define me as a person. It did not set the tone for the rest of my life.”
Thirteen doves were released. Seconds later, two hundred more fluttered free—an arbitrary number, to signify everyone else. They scattered up in all directions. For a moment, they seemed to fill the entire sky. Then they found one another and coalesced into a single flock, a massive white cloud weaving from left to right and back again, against the clear blue sky.
Timeline: Before
SOPHOMORE YEAR
January 1997 — The missions begin.
February 28, 1997 — Wayne Harris starts his journal.
March 31, 1997 — Dylan starts his journal.
Summer 1997 — Eric and Dylan start at Blackjack; build first pipe bomb.
July 23, 1997 — Dylan first mentions killing in his journal—possibly figuratively.
August 7, 1997 — Eric’s Web site is reported to the police. It lists his “I HATE” rants.
JUNIOR YEAR
October 2, 1997 — Eric, Dylan, and Zack are suspended for breaking into lockers.
November 3, 1997 — Dylan first mentions a killing spree in his journal.
Unknown — Eric and Dylan steal from the school computer room.
January 30, 1998 — Eric and Dylan are arrested for breaking linto a van.
February 15, 1998 — Deputies find a pipe bomb near Eric’s house.
February 16, 1998 — Eric begins seeing a psychiatrist and soon starts taking Zoloft.
Spring 1998* — Eric’s dad catches him with a pipe bomb.
March 18, 1998 — Dylan warns Brooks Brown about Eric’s death threats.
March 19, 1998 — Eric and Dylan conduct their intake interview for the Diversion program.
March 25, 1998 — Eric and Dylan are formally sentenced in court.
April 1998 — Investigator Guerra drafts an affidavit for a warrant to search Eric’s house.
April 8, 1998 — Eric receives his Diversion program contract.
April 10, 1998 — Eric begins his journal.
by May 9, 1998 — Eric and Dylan outline the attack, write about it in each other’s yearbook.
May 14, 1998 — Eric has switched from Zoloft to Luvox.
SENIOR YEAR
October 22, 1998 — Eric begins pipe bomb arsenal production; resumes journal writing the next day.
November 13, 1998 — Eric turns in his paper on Nazis.
November 17, 1998 — Eric describes his sadistic rape fantasies in his journal.
November 22, 1998 — Eric and Dylan buy two shotguns and a rifle at the Tanner Gun Show.
December 2, 1998 — Eric fires his weapon for the first time.
January 23, 1999 — Eric and Dylan buy the TEC-9 from Mark Manes.
January 20, 1999 — Eric and Dylan complete the Diversion program, and Dylan resumes his journal.
February 7, 1999 — Dylan submits his prescient story about killing “preps.”
March 6, 1999 — Eric and Dylan practice shooting at Rampart Range.
March 15, 1999 — Eric and Dylan begin filming the Basement Tapes.
March 20, 1999 — Eric attempts to recruit Chris Morris.
April 5, 8, 15, 1999 — Eric talks to a Marine recruiter.
April 17, 1999 — The prom.
April 20, 1999 — The massacre.
* Unknown date, approximately this period.
Acknowledgments
This book is possible because of the survivors who graciously shared their stories. Thank you all. John, Kathy and Patrick Ireland, Brian Rohrbough, Linda Sanders, Frank DeAngelis, Dwayne Fuselier, Dr. Frank Ochberg, Dr. Robert Hare, and Kate Battan were especially generous. Reverend Don Marxhausen and Lucille Zimmerman were particularly kind.