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Eric and Dylan Harris and KleboldHigh school students who carried out the Columbine High School massacre
Country:
 USA |
Content:
Biography of Eric and Dylan Harris and Klebold
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the high school students who carried out the mass shooting at Columbine High School, were not particularly popular among their peers. Instead, they were often bullied and mocked. After becoming friends, the boys actively played computer games, particularly "Doom." Eric even created new levels for the game and had several websites where he uploaded his versions of "Doom" for online gaming. Perhaps these two American teenagers would never have become the subjects of news reports and analytical articles. Their motives and behavior would not have been the subject of study for psychologists and psychoanalysts. And, of course, the parents and loved ones of all the children and teenagers who became involuntary victims and participants in the horrific and incomprehensible events would not have cursed them. Eric and Dylan would have lived peacefully in their comfortable American world, grown up, had children, read newspapers in the morning, and lived their lives in peace. Just like all the other participants in those terrible events... However, for them, as well as for their numerous victims, everything turned out to be much worse. The bloody massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, claimed 13 lives and left more than two dozen injured.
Eric Harris
Eric Harris was the son of US Air Force pilot Wayne Harris and homemaker Katherine Ann Poole. They moved to Littleton after Wayne's forced retirement. The Harris family initially lived in a rented house but later Wayne found work in the same field, though not as a pilot, and Katherine also found a job, allowing them to buy a house in Littleton. Eric met Dylan through their mutual friend Brooks Brown. Unlike Eric, Dylan had lived in the area longer and had more friends and acquaintances. However, according to his parents, Thomas Klebold and Susan Yassenoff, Dylan always felt like an outcast and was not very comfortable amidst his peers. In Columbine High School, where Dylan transferred to in 1995, he actively worked with equipment in the school theater, specifically sound and lighting, and helped in the computer class, working with the school server. After becoming friends, the boys somewhat opposed the bullies who had tormented them, and even started to intimidate their former tormentors. Connecting their computers, they spent a lot of time playing "Doom" and had a strong interest in acts of terrorism. Later, entries about the Oklahoma City bombing, carried out by Timothy McVeigh, were found in their journals. Eric and Dylan openly dreamed of surpassing the terrorist. They first encountered legal troubles in 1998, a year before the tragic events at the school, when they were arrested for stealing property from a truck on the outskirts of Littleton. However, the case was dropped, and the teenagers did not receive the punishment they deserved. In March of the same year, serious threats were made towards Brooks Brown on Eric's website, but the police did not consider Eric dangerous to society. Shortly before the attack, the boys somehow "practiced" by presenting a video in the school project where they portrayed hired killers using fake weapons. The violence depicted in the video went unnoticed. On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought homemade explosives and semi-automatic weapons to Columbine High School. They began shooting on the street and continued their violent spree in classrooms and corridors. Their bloody path ended in the school library, where they shot and killed several more victims. While committing their horrible act, Eric and Dylan exchanged jokes and laughed. After finishing their dreadful deed, the two friends wandered through the empty corridors and rooms of the school before returning to the library, where they shot themselves.
It is known that when they encountered Brooks Brown near the school, with whom they had recently reconciled, Eric did not show any aggression. In fact, he advised Brooks to leave the area. During the violent rampage, the school was surrounded by police, SWAT teams, and rangers. The information available to the authorities was too conflicting to accurately assess the combat situation. Law enforcement officers believed that a well-trained and well-equipped terrorist squad was operating in the school. This belief was further solidified after a brief shootout through the windows.
The outcome of that terrible morning was 15 dead, including Eric and Dylan, and 21 injured. After the events, there were numerous versions of the motives behind this incomprehensible crime. Violent video games, heavy music, both of which the boys were interested in, were blamed. Antidepressants, prescribed to Eric, and even the legislation that made the accessibility of firearms possible for the two teenagers were also held responsible. Another motive was the "school apartheid" that divided all students into "jocks," "nerds," and those left outside popularity.
However, the numerous versions of the motives behind the crime remained just that - versions. Neither parents, friends, nor school teachers could explain how and when the souls of these two American teenagers became so hopelessly distorted. The struggle for popularity, attention, love, and friendship among their peers may explain their horrific act. Unfortunately, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's journals, which detailed their planned attack, provided no explanation for the motives behind their crime.
