I was thirteen years old and in junior high school at the time of the 1999 shooting incident at Columbine High School, so the event remains a memorable one for me (as I’m sure it does for several others). At the time, rushed media coverage and personal gossip propagated several rumors about the shooters and their motives. Many of those rumors later proved to be unfounded. In his book Columbine, author Dave Cullen offers welcome insight on what really happened on that day and during the year and a half leading up to it. I’ve summarized three of these misconceptions below.
Misconception
The attack on Columbine was a school shooting.
Truth
The attack was a bombing that failed. The perpetrators placed bombs inside the school cafeteria timed to explode during the most crowded portion of the lunch period. As planned, the explosions would have also caused the library above to collapse onto the cafeteria below. The attackers rigged additional bombs inside their cars to go off when first responders and media arrived. All told, the boys estimated their attack could result in 2,500 casualties. Fortunately, they did not understand the electrical circuitry necessary to create the bombs’ timing devices, and none of these bombs detonated as intended. In the end, they killed thirteen victims, plus themselves, all by gunshot.
Misconception
The shooters were bullied and were avenging themselves against their tormentors.
Truth
The shooters intended to kill nearly everyone inside Columbine High School. They selected their targets at random and they deviated from their original plan and moved through the school, shooting at anyone they encountered after the bombings had failed. They were not Goths or members of a so-called “Trench Coat Mafia.” They were not part of the most popular crowd at the high school, but they had friends and active social lives. One of them had a prom date a few days before the attack; the other did not attend prom but went to an after-party with a date. No evidence exists to indicate the shooters were bullied in high school prior to the attack. In fact, the shooters bullied younger students and hacked into the school’s computer system, accessed locker codes and broke into other students’ lockers before the attack.
Misconception
The shooters asked their victims if they believed in God and shot those who said yes.
Truth
Based on collected eyewitness testimony, one shooter asked one student if she believed in God. She said yes, but she was not shot. One witness originally reported that an affirming believer was killed. Her church declared her a martyr, and her mother wrote a commercially successful memoir about her daughter’s life. After further interviews and reenactments of the scene, it appears most likely that the deceased victim was not asked about her religious beliefs, and that the witness mistook her for the student who was not shot.