The day this happened, I was sitting in my high school cafeteria on a free period. I remember suddenly hearing other students saying to each other that there was a shooting at Columbine (a school 30 minutes from mine, a school we played against in sports). By the time I got to my 7th (last) period class, my own school was on a lock-down and we spent the entire time watching the news in horror.
It was my senior year of high school, and will forever be burned into my brain.
Since today is the anniversary of Columbine, I wanted to take the time to remember the victims. It’s not as if we’ve forgotten about them, but I think being reminded about what the people of Columbine High School went through that day will continue to remind us that despite where we stand on the mental health debate, gun control debate, and school security debate, we need to continue to come up with solutions to help minimize events like this.
Rachel Scott (age 17): Shot four times and killed while eating lunch outside with her friend, Richard Castaldo.
Richard Castaldo (age 17): Shot eight times and paralyzed below the chest while eating lunch outside with Rachel Scott.
Daniel Rohrbough (age 15): Shot in the chest at close range and killed while walking down a staircase outside Columbine with Sean Graves and Lance Kirklin.
Sean Graves (age 15): Shot in the back, foot, and abdomen. He managed to crawl into the cafeteria doorway before he collapsed and was rescued hours later.
Lance Kirklin (age 16): Shot in the leg and neck, and was moments later shot in the face.
Michael Johnson (age 15): Shot in the face, arm, and leg while trying to escape the shooting outside.
Mark Taylor (age 16): Shot in the chest, arms, and legs while trying to escape the shooting outside. After being shot, he feigned death until help arrived.
