Columbine+High+School+Massacre+G6

= Columbine High School Massacre-1999=

Overview
The Columbine High School(left) Shooting is the fourth deadliest school massacre ever. The two = = shooters in the massacre were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. They were both seniors at Columbine. The shootings occured on April 20, 1999. They killed twelve students, and one teacher. They also injured twenty-one other students and three more that were fleeing. At the end of the shootings the two of them committed suicide. They both kept a journal that included very violent intentions. One of them included their elaborate plans to have a bombing equivalent to the Oklahoma City bombings.

Central Issue
Both students drove to school separately in their cars. They placed a bomb in a field a half mile away from their school, which was thought to be a diversion for emergincy personnel, but the bomb never exploded. They armed two 20lb propane bombs and placed them in duffle bags in the cafeteria and they went out to their cars expecting the bombs to detonate and shoot the students that were fleeing, but the bombs never detonated. So the pair entered the school armed at the west main entrance. They shot at anyone they saw and threw pipebombs down the north hallway. However they injured none of them. They then proceded to the library where they killed more students and injured even more. As soon as the shooters left the library, 34 uninjured and 10 injured students escaped out the west entrance. The shooters then returned to the cafeteria and lit a molotov cocktail and threw it at the earlier placed propane bomb and detonated it, which caused a fire stopped by school sprinklers. They then returned to the library and shot themselves. ==Conclusion/Historical Significance== The Columbine caused debate regarding gun laws, the availability of firearms, and gun violence involving youths. It also caused a change in the tactics used by police when there is an active shooter. Police no longer set up a perimeter around the building they go in and look to stop the shooter at any cost. This tactic proved successful in the Virginia Tech massacre, and is credited with saving dozens of lives.

References (2009-10.1.2.F)