Remembering Columbine
What shocked the nation on that April 20th in 1999 impacted the residents of Littleton, Colorado forever. I interviewed one of my close friends Kim O’Hara who lived in Littleton during the time that this tragic massacre occurred. Kim is a good, personal friend of mine and we go to the same church. When I found out that I had to interview someone that had been affected, impacted, or changed by a national/international event, my immediate thoughts were of Kim because I knew that she had lived in Littleton during the tragedy at Columbine High School. When I asked her about doing the interview, Kim said that she was more than willing.
When I was researching the event that occurred at Columbine High School, I became very saddened by what I was learning. I learned that on April 20,1999 two guys by the names of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School prepared to kill everyone. Eric and Dylan, two students that attended Columbine High, were known to have been “outcasts.” They were affiliated with a group called the Trenchcoat Mafia in which Hitler was cool and jocks were not. Around 11am that morning, the two walked into the school with tons of bombs and loaded guns, prepared to take anyone out. They raged through the library, the cafeteria and many other places throughout the campus. Thousands of students and faculty ran and hid for their lives. Over 20 people were injured in some way both severally and in minor ways. Just after the fury of the two boys, Dylan and Eric committed suicide inside the school. At the end of the rampage, fifteen students were killed and one. The students who were killed included: Cassie Bernall, Rachel Scott, Steven Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matthew Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez and teacher William “Dave” Sanders. This act of school violence was declared the most tragic in all of the United States history.
America was shocked and devastated by this horrible event. It touched the hearts of every American all over the United States especially parents. Meanwhile in the town of Littleton, teachers, parents, students and friends were grieving over this tremendous loss. The statement “ I didn’t think it could happen in this town,” was heard quite frequently by residents of Littleton. Shocked, saddened, and confused were definitely some of the emotions that my friend Kim felt during this time. But during my interview with her, she expressed more of a feeling of hope for people than a sense of despair.
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Interview With Kim
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