APRIL 20, 1999 - LITTLETON, COLO.
Chronology of events
TUESDAY 11 a.m. — About 900 Columbine High School students head into the cafeteria for lunch, hit the books in the library or in classrooms.
11:30 a.m. — Two young men wearing long black trench coats approach the school. They pull out weapons and open fire in the parking lot. They proceed inside, to the school cafeteria, shooting as they walk, then upstairs to the library, still shooting. Scores of students hide in closets, bathrooms, under tables and chairs. Some students, barricaded behind a heavy door, whisper their terror over cell phone calls to relatives. Dozens more flee the building, hiding in bushes or sprinting to a nearby park.
Noon — Police SWAT teams find several explosive devices around the school. Ambulances take first wounded students, all of whom managed to run outside, to area hospitals.
Anguished parents, awaiting word on their children, gather at nearby Leawood Elementary School.
12:30 p.m. — SWAT teams begin room-by-room sweep of the high school, checking every knapsack and desk.
2:30 p.m. — SWAT teams begin freeing students in hiding. In small groups, the students and teachers run from the building to a holding area, where they are frisked, questioned, offered medical care and then bused to Leawood Elementary to be reunited with parents.
4 p.m. — Sheriff's spokesman confirms as many as 25 people are dead, a combination of students and teachers. Officers searching the library find the bodies of both suspects, who apparently died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
4:30 p.m. — SWAT teams declare school safe.
6:15 p.m. — Authorities find an explosive device in a car in the school parking lot. Sheriff's spokesman says entire school is regarded as a massive crime scene; campus marked off with yards of yellow tape. All bodies still inside.
10:45 p.m. — One of the suspects' homemade bombs detonates as police try to safely defuse it outside the school.
WEDNESDAY Throughout the night — Members of bomb squads from several jurisdictions, including Boulder, painstakingly comb the high school, checking each room and every abandoned backpack for explosives. About 30 such bombs are discovered.
8:30 a.m. — Jefferson County sheriff's officials release, for the first time, an official death toll. Fifteen people died in the massacre, including the two suspects. Eleven are male and four are female. The bomb squad declares the building safe for investigators to enter.
11:30 a.m. — "The investigation is under way," a sheriff's spokesman says. Thirteen bodies, though, remain inside the high school as detectives thoroughly photograph the crime scene.
2:30 p.m. — Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas and Sheriff John Stone hold a press conference, revealing they have reason to believe others may have been aware of — or even helped plot — Tuesday's shootout. Additionally, while formal identifications of the bodies have not been made, most families of those suspected to have been killed are notified.
Throughout the afternoon and evening — Officials began the slow process of removing the 13 bodies still inside the school and taking them to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office for formal identification and autopsy.
5 p.m. — Identities of those killed in the massacre begin to filter out. Rachel Scott, a Columbine junior, and John Tomlin, 16, named as among the dead.
April 22, 1999
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BACKGROUND
Full index of the shooting Reconstruction of the shooting Timeline Location the school Floorplan Weapons used
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AUDIO
'Friend of Mine' Listen to the Columbine Memorial song sung by Columbine students Jonathan and Stephen Cohen.
911 tapes
Interview with Arun Ghandi |
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PHOTOS
A Daily Camera photo essay detailed the tragedy of April 20 and the recovery and remembrance in the following weeks: photo essay
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INTERACT
In light of the shooting on April 20, should the state legislature allow people to carry concealed weapons? vote here
With the recent rise in school violence, do you feel schools are still safe? vote here
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THE INVESTIGATION
Gunmen paid for weapons, teenager claims CHS investigators focus on computers Investigators try to disprove third CHS shooter Man charged with selling handgun to child FBI investigator's son linked to case Agents creating models of Columbine Teen targeted by sheriff denies involvement in school attack Arrest in Columbine shooting Killer reportedly took Luvox antidepressant Officials no closer to arresting suspects Detectives question shooter's girlfriend Security videotapes at school may show whether gunmen had help Bombs found in cafeteria Portraits of the killers Killer's diary describes plot of hate |
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SCHOOL VIOLENCE
Violence in Georgia School violence stuns nation Teen wounds six fellow students Teens charged in alleged school attack plot Michigan teenagers charged in plot Other school shootings 1927 school bombing killed nearly 40 children Suspensions, arrests across country La. school site of another shooting Facts: Death in schools 'Blood in the School Yard', from the Cincinnati Post full series |
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REACTION
High schools' 'cult of the athlete' under scrutiny Parents of Columbine shooters sued Suit planned against parents of Columbine High shooters Columbine spurs interest in home schools Columbine healing fund raises $2.3 million Safe Night aims to curb youth violence CU frat shows support for Columbine 'Healing bear' arrives to help in Littleton Doctors: Guilt a normal reaction for survivors School security business surges Media the message? Broomfield couple campaigns to 'Erase the Hate' Clint Talbott - BVSD rejects dress code What now? Video of Clinton's Wednesday morning speech Video of Clinton's Tuesday speech
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GUNS AND LAW
GOP tinkers further with gun legislation Columbine dad lobbies Washington Group forms to back gun control Poll says two-thirds in U.S. support tougher restrictions on guns Senate passes more gun controls Columbine killers also wounded the NRA Senate rejects any new restrictions on gun-show sales Dems want special session Gun control strife House won't debate gun bill New gun laws on table Leaders scrap gun bills Guns and legislatures |
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HOW TO HELP
- The Denver Rocky Mountain News has established a drive to raise money for a memorial to the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy. Contributions may be mailed to the Columbine Memorial Fund, c/o The Jefferson Foundation, 809 Quail St., Building 1, Lakewood, CO 80215.
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