Original subtitles

[Music]

in the middle-class suburban town of

littleton near denver colorado

a 17-year-old's murderous fantasy is

beginning to take shape

he and a friend known as vodka or v

intend to commit an act so violent that

it will secure their place in history

sometime in april next year

me and v will get revenge

and kick natural selection up a few

notches

if we've learned the art of making time

bombs

will set hundreds of them

around roads

bridges buildings

and gas stations

anything that will cause damage and

chaos

it'll be like the la riots the oklahoma

bombing

world war ii

vietnam duke and doom all mixed together

[Music]

i want to leave a lasting impression on

the world

[Music]

one year later

on april the 20th 1999

eric harris and another columbine

student

dylan klebold committed the worst high

school massacre in american history

they killed 12 students and one teacher

injured 23 others and then turned the

guns on themselves

this film records events as they

unfolded on that tuesday morning during

the critical hour between 1108 am

and 1208 pm

for years the horror of the massacre has

defied explanation

but recently new information has been

released about the attack and the events

leading up to it

from these terrible details it's

possible to reconstruct the fuller

picture of columbine

and the freakish whirlwind of

circumstances that ended with two

teenagers committing mass murder

1108 in the morning and eric harris is

three minutes away from columbine

mbk came quick everything i see in here

i relate to nbk somehow feels like a

goddamn movie sometimes

mbk is eric and dylan's code name for

the coming massacre

it stands for natural born killers

a movie they both admire

the film tells the story of mickey and

mallory

two mass murderers with traumatized

childhood who become media celebrities

[Music]

for eric and dylan the movie seems to

represent a kind of redemption

that they like the fictional characters

are ultimately superior

i know we're gonna have followers

because we're so [ __ ] godlike

i mean we're not exactly human we have

human bodies but we've evolved one step

above you [ __ ] human [ __ ] i mean we

actually have [ __ ] self-awareness

a key element in eric and dylan's sense

of alienation comes from their school

i hate you people for leaving me out of

so many fun things

and no

[ __ ] don't say

well that's your fault because it isn't

you people had my phone number and i

asked and all

but no

don't let the weird air kid come along

oh [ __ ] no

in columbine high school's unspoken

hierarchy

eric and dylan see themselves at the

bottom of the pile

the weir kids who hang out with the

other outcasts

at the very top are the jocks

a group with their own rules of conduct

and their own dress code

which includes white baseball caps

[Music]

jocks are not necessarily athletes a

jock is anyone who believes that they

because they wear nice clothes

because they screw the best looking girl

because the teachers treat them

different deserve and are better than

everyone else

although eric and dylan will not target

the jocks in their shooting rampage

witnesses will later report that they

both seem hell-bent on revenge against

the school itself

they went to columbine high school to

kill people they didn't go shoot up the

police station they didn't go to the

public library and that's because they

hated the school they hated the

injustice of this school they hated the

environment

and i am not in any way

condoning what they did or i'm just

trying to find the answers

you've given a [ __ ] for years

you're [ __ ] gonna pay for all this

[ __ ]

we don't give a [ __ ]

because we're gonna die doing it

at 1109 am the cafeteria columbine is

just starting to fill with students on

their lunch break

at some point earlier that morning

eric harris and dylan klebold planted

two 20-pound propane bombs in the

cafeteria

both bombs were said to explode as 11 17

just as the cafeteria reaches the peak

of the lunchtime rush

the plan was to kill as many students as

possible in the explosions and to

execute survivors

the bomb planting was not caught on the

cafeteria surveillance cameras possibly

because of a tape change

that morning i believe it was third hour

philosophy class i know it was

philosophy class we had a big test on

chinese philosophy

and eric was always type about his

grades

he wouldn't ditch class if there was a

test or an assignment due

so it really struck me that eric

wouldn't show up that day

when we got to fourth hour that day

though he still wasn't in class and i'm

even i only ditched one class in a row

usually

and dylan wasn't there either

another columbine student is 17 year old

john savage

he's just completed a music class

i got to school early um did some

homework you know it's just one of those

days where you don't expect anything to

happen

we just finished up string orchestra i

was trying to decide whether or not

to

to practice

it like way back in the back of the

school in the band room or go to the

library

among the teachers on duty is dave

sanders

he's a popular sports coach in the

school because of his ability to get the

best out of the least likely athletes

patty nielsen is a 35 year old teacher

working part-time at the school

[Music]

football today

normally she heads home after her

morning art classes but today she's been

assigned to monitor the hallways which

are just starting to fill with hundreds

of students heading for lunch in the

cafeteria

[Music]

after creative writing every day

i'd go out for my smoke

and so i took my same route i do every

day

out for smoke walk around

this day i saw eric

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

since he admits two hours of school i

went up to see what was going on

and i called him a few names and he

laughed called me a few names back and

we made this little interchange where i

was cussing him out basically

which is really weird that he didn't

shoot me for that

but that caused him out

eric filmed here and brooks have had a

tempestuous history

a year earlier brooks found his name on

eric's website

eric was threatening to kill him

there was information on there that eric

was building pipe bombs detonating pipe

bombs and said that essentially he

wanted to kill brooks brown

brooks's parents reported eric's threat

to the police

this was not the first time eric's name

had been brought to the attention of the

police in the two years before the

shootings

but they were unable to access eric's

website and mislaid paperwork related to

the complaint

if they'd acted on these claims

eric would have been in jail it's very

simple and calming never should have

happened

in the meantime brooks brown had made

his own peace with eric

he probably saved his life

what the hell is wrong with you man

you weren't in third hour you missed the

test

it doesn't matter anymore then he looked

at me i i said dude you missed the huge

test he said it didn't matter anymore

and then he looked at me and he said

uh brooks i like you now get out of here

go home

go home

okay there's a lot of theories about why

he didn't shoot me

i personally think because i remember

the look on his face he didn't want to

kill me

and i wasn't the only person that let go

that john savage actually

um

i was friends with him screech he was a

great guy

john savage has decided to revise for

his history test in the library

where the worst of the columbine

massacre will take place

[Music]

eric and dylan have arrived with a huge

arsenal of weapons

after the attack the police would count

two sawn off shotguns two nine

millimeter guns and 99 bombs including

the two 20-pound propane bombs in the

cafeteria and booby-trap bombs in each

of their cars

they have spent a year gathering these

weapons a year planning a massacre

intended to wipe the school off the map

[Music]

just a month before the attack an

unreleased videotape reveals the extent

of eric and dylan's preparation

this is a reconstruction from reports of

the tape's contents

the cameraman is dylan

the location eric's bedroom

eric reveals dozens of hiding places

containing what amounts to a small

armaments factory

how did eric succeed in concealing such

a vast collection of lethal weaponry

[Music]

the question still remains unanswered

eric's parents have not spoken publicly

since the massacre

but his play acting at the end of the

tape shows that eric is well aware of

his skills in the art of deception

it'll be the most nerve-wracking 15

minutes of my life

after the bombs are set we're waiting to

charge to the school

seconds will be like hours

i can't wait

in a far corner of a school parking lot

neil gardner is taking a quick lunch

with andy martin a columbine security

guard

gardner is a local police officer with

special responsibility for the school's

students and teachers

in the past he's seen dylan klebold

around the school

but he doesn't know eric harris

and he does not appear to know that eric

and dylan have already been in trouble

with the police and the courts

[Music]

15 months earlier they've broken into a

van and stolen electrical equipment

they were later arrested on felony

charges of criminal trespass and theft

at their court hearing both were ordered

to undergo courses designed to steer

juveniles away from crime

[Music]

after completing his course

eric seemed contrite

i'm happy to say that with the help of

this class

and some other diversion related

experiences

i do want to try and control my anger

eric's private journal tells a different

story

isn't america supposed to be the land of

the free

how come if i'm free i can't deprive

some [ __ ] dumb [ __ ] of his

possessions if he leaves them in the

front seat of his [ __ ] van in plain

sight in the middle of [ __ ] nowhere

on a fry [ __ ] day night

natural selection

[ __ ] should be shot

their encounter with the law reveals the

existence of a kind of parallel universe

while outwardly apologetic and reformed

eric and dylan were now bonded by a

shared rage

my wrath from january's incident will be

godlike

not to mention our revenge in the

commons

the commons is the columbine cafeteria

eric and dylan have drawn up detailed

plans for the attack

the bombs are set to explode in one

minutes time

there are 480 students inside

almost a quarter of the school's

population

richard castaldo is on his way out to

meet his friend rachel scott

they plan to have lunch just outside the

school's west entrance

in their trench coats eric and dylan

attract little attention

they've often worn this uniform to

school

the attack is now just seconds away

when i first sat down

you know see my eat my lunch i saw

you know i saw a couple of guys coming

off to my left and they threw a uh

they threw some i didn't know what it

was at the time but they threw it was a

pipe bomb

and i remember it went off and it didn't

really do anything

and i thought

at first i just kind of thought they

were

you know screwing around because you

know i guess like a senior prank or

something because school was about to

end

i guess it hit rachel first but not by

you know just about like half a second

or something

so i can't remember seeing that corner

mine and just

just kind of brace myself i guess and

then

when i first started hearing gunshots um

i didn't really

think in my head they were gunshots you

generally don't you know go oh well

that's a

pistol and it never really occurred to

me that they were gunshots until i

started hearing shotgun blasts and an

explosion so i started running

first thought to enter my mind is i

should call my dad

brooks called me and and he said dad

there's a shooting at the school and

instantly

i knew it was air

[Music]

i saw him throw a couple grenades on the

roof and they exploded and then i saw

him shooting guns down towards the

parking lot inside the school no one's

sure what's going on

some think it's just a prank by senior

students

dave sanders realizes it might be much

more serious

neil gardner receives a panicked radio

message from inside the school

but he thinks at first that it might be

no more than an accident on school

grounds

[Music]

help

sure

i'll help you

in a shotgun

all right everyone we think there's

someone shooting outside i want you

quiet i want you to all make your way

outside this way only

[Applause]

not go out to the parking lot

within seconds dave sanders and two

other columbine staff members have

evacuated most of the cafeteria

eric and dylan's bombs are now due to

explode but fail to detonate

the injured sean graves makes an attempt

to reach safety inside the cafeteria

he's aware of one of the gunmen coming

up behind him

he plays dead

dylan arrives to find the cafeteria

apparently empty

there are no easy targets

dave sanders now embarks on a determined

attempt to secure as much of the school

as possible

even if they come in stay very still

okay

he will spend the next two minutes

running through the hallways and

classrooms doing all he can to make sure

students have some form of protection

in a science lab on the upper floor of

the school seventeen-year-old aaron

hansey is completing a homework project

it was a lunch time

it wasn't a regular class

but within a few minutes

you started

hearing things and it was kind of weird

because you didn't usually hear those

type of sounds and then you started

feeling the floor move or the walls move

just really curious at that point

because i had no idea what's going on

but shortly after when the teacher

came in

then we found out that was going on

everybody get down behind your

workbenches i'm going to lock the door

the teacher came in and get up informed

us that people are shooting inside the

school and to get down behind the

workstations

he informed us that he was locking the

doors we can leave they were fine you

can go through them but you can't come

in

this is what we always wanted to do

this is

awesome

let's do it

[Music]

neil gardner is the first police officer

on the scene

code 33 shots fired

gardner believes momentarily that he may

have hit one of the gunmen

the end of the gun battle with gardner

marks the beginning of eric and dylan's

attack inside the school

way well the first thing that i really

remember was when the lady came running

into the library and

and she said everybody got under the

table there's a kid out there with a gun

you know that was my first like oh man

something's going down

get down

everybody get down

get under the tables

i think everyone was just kind of too

shocked to actually do anything you know

they're still trying to figure out and

then like she said it a second time like

get under the tables

and then people started to

respond

first actually i thought it was just

some like

random person that came in off the

street and it was just like some

crazy maniac or something

it didn't even like click it at that

time that it could have been a student

because i didn't think anyone at

columbine would

like start shooting people

oh yeah

[Music]

i just kind of sat and waited you know

i guess i was just hoping i wasn't gonna

die really

jefferson county 9-1-1 yes i am a

teacher at holland high school there is

a student here with a gun

he has shot out a window i believe

um

make sure the science labs are locked

dave sanders is still trying to clear

the hallways

five more police units are nearing the

school

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

dave sanders is badly injured

the killing spree inside the school

is about to begin

[Music]

columbine student aaron hansey is still

hiding in a science room when one of his

teachers returned trying to find anyone

who knows first aid

i told him i did and then just

made a mad dash across the hallway

[Music]

bombs are still exploding guns are still

being fired

they could come around the corner

anytime

dave sanders has crawled out of the

hallway and collapsed in a nearby

science room

he's in desperate need of medical

attention

and then we went through the back doors

into the

corner science room where i found dave

sanders

mr sanders it's okay we're here to help

you it's aaron

the paramedics are on their way when i

first got to dave he was conscious fully

aware of what was going on

so when we got to him he was on his

stomach i thought he had been shot with

a shotgun or something and just

in chest at close range or something

like that

we're going to push you a little bit on

your back here

aaron quickly discovers that dave

sanders has an entry wound in each

shoulder

when i looked over the situation

yeah he had been shot and that's no

small cookie

but he was conscious and

he was very aware of his surroundings

he's doing great you're doing you're

doing great mr sanders

teacher theresa miller tries calling

9-1-1

the lines are constantly busy help is on

the way don't worry i thought we were

going to be able to take him out and

that it could get fixed get operated on

if needs be and

recover

by now there are six police units

outside the school

some are tending to frightened an

injured student around the parking lot

others are securing a perimeter

following standard police procedures

which emphasize the need to contain an

incident

none of the officers ventures into the

school to try to challenge the killers

[Music]

in the next seven minutes

eric and dylan will carry out the most

brutal part of their assault on the

school

the attack on the 56 students and staff

hiding in the library

[Music]

everybody with white hat stand up this

is for all the [ __ ] you've given us for

the past four years they said

everyone get out we're

gonna blow up the library and then i

thought oh well maybe they just want to

blow up the libraries like a statement

you know maybe they don't actually want

to hurt anybody so i kind of like i

thought about like maybe just getting up

and and leaving and letting them like

blow up a bunch of books but then like

no one else got up so i was like oh

maybe i'll just stay

fine i'll start shooting anyway

okay stay with me ma'am you're doing

great you are doing great okay

now they said he's gone to the library

in the building

after they walked about halfway through

into libraries when they came into my

view then i could see that it was

actually people that i knew students

it was just these two people that i

thought were just ordinary regular kids

we were suddenly like

blowing things up and shooting and i was

like

what are they doing

let's go kill some cops

so

[Music]

quit your bitching

peekaboo

[Music]

do you want to die huh

well

we're all going to die

i'm going to blow up the school anyway

i said

said something about like

like oh look it's it's the little [ __ ]

or something like that and um i knew who

they were talking about

grab

there's a [ __ ] over here

come on and then i i heard some more

banging you know gunshots

i can't believe i just did that

cool

i i kind of assumed that they shot him

but like you know like i couldn't see so

i was

i guess kind of hoping for the best

who's ready to die next

[Music]

aaron hansi is now struggling to keep

dave sanders conscious

with the help of a teacher and another

student as well as his father who's

phoning in first aid advice from home

aaron uses family pictures from dave

sanders wallet

to keep him talking

i think

it really did help him with the pictures

because we could

get away from

how are you feeling where does it hurt

um

get away from the pessimistic side of

things and try to be optimistic and

to see the things

he did love

listen up you [ __ ] scared pieces of

[ __ ]

this school is [ __ ] dead

uh

[Laughter]

foreign

please don't let me die

you believe in god

yes

why huh

because i believe because my parents

brought me up that way

[Music]

the phone line left open by patty

nielsen records the sound of the

killings in the library

okay

[Music]

during uh the shooting you can hear

dylan saying all kinds of things to

people before he kills them

that eric doesn't i mean there's a very

distinct difference between how the two

handled the shooting that day

and not seeing it's incredibly difficult

to listen to

even if you don't know the people

they're killing and who's killing them i

could like see his boots coming towards

me

through the rows of bookshelves and i

was like

wow this is it you know you know and i

was like man this

like i could die here it was

it was pretty shocking i guess

who's under there

identify yourself

i said it's john because you know i i

kind of knew him a little and i was

hoping he'd

like remember that that i wasn't a chalk

and then i'd you know

try to treat him with respect and stuff

john savage

hey dylan

what are you doing

i'm not just killing people

oh

it was just creepy

um

and then so i looked up at him and i

said

are you going to kill me and he said

what you kissed the fire alarms and

everything so i asked her are you going

to kill me

are you going to kill me

nah man just get out of here

just run

run

run

as the killings go on unchecked in the

library the police presence outside

continues to build

all around the school

gunshots from the library are clearly

heard and reported by officers outside

who are just tens of meters away

[Applause]

later the police will say they'd receive

conflicting reports of a sniper on the

roof

and that there were as many as eight

gunmen

also communications problems made

coordination ever more difficult

and one of the things the police don't

want you to know about that day is

that on april 20th while the executions

are taking place while these innocent

children are being murdered in the

library

the outside library door is propped open

and the policemen that are standing by

their cars

on the lawn outside are listening to

these children be murdered

and they listen and they listen and they

never rescue them and they let them be

murdered

and

no matter what they say that's not

acceptable and when they talk about how

they saved many kids that day that's not

true those kids saved themselves that

came out of that school they saved

themselves and as an example lisa kreutz

a girl who was shot and lay on the floor

in and out of consciousness bleeding and

they rescued her they rescued her they

got to her at about 3 45 in the

afternoon and she was still alive

she was just lucky she didn't bleed to

death

i was actually scared that they might

change my mind so i ran as fast as i

could in case they decided to turn

around and shoot me in the back

[Music]

[Music]

i'm out of ammo maybe we should start

knifing people that'd be more fun

i guess really it made me realize how

short life is you know

when you're young it seems like it's

gonna like go on forever and you've got

plenty of time you don't have forever

[Music]

the seven minute killing spree in the

library comes to a sudden end just

before 11 36

even though dylan now confronts one of

the school's athletes the injured evan

todd he threatens and abuses

but doesn't kill

you wanna go to the commons i have one

more thing to do

he now seems reduced to a gesture of

repressed rage

[Music]

by the time i reckon dylan leave the

library 12 students in the school are

dead

one teacher is dying and 23 others are

injured

many of them seriously

there's been no pattern to the attack

not one of their victims has been

singled out because he or she is a

figure of hate

[Music]

there are still hundreds of students and

teachers hiding elsewhere in the school

[Music]

at one point

when theresa was still on the phone and

she was looking outside the door trying

to see what's going on

she saw the shooters come down the hall

they reloaded their

firearms right there in front of our

classroom

door had me window in it and so they

could look right in

i remember just jumping away

it was a scary that was probably one of

the most scariest points

of the whole ordeal

just because they were right there

i found out the next morning that david

died

it came as a as a big shock

because i thought we could take him out

and he could go get

operated on

and start the recovery process

i guess it broke my heart to think that

he did die

because i tried my best

eric and dylan's movements through the

school now seem directionless

eric's secret journals and video

recordings leave the clear impression of

a disturbed mind

filled with grandiose and destructive

schemes

dylan however is a mystery

[Music]

would dylan be a part of it i couldn't

imagine it

but could he be caught up in it in some

way yes

and i think eric was

dominant over dylan

i do believe that i had that

conversation with dylan's mother after

the shootings that dylan was always

trying to be there for eric

and actually take care of them because

eric didn't have as many friends steven

had friends people like dylan

when eric and i first met and for a

considerable amount of time thereafter i

got no hint that he had this other side

to him um

that he was this angry i don't think he

was at the time this would have been

freshman sophomore year i don't think

for freshman year he was that angry he

was on the soccer team he was hanging

out with us we were doing all kinds of

stuff

he didn't nearly have the simmering

anger that he did later on by any means

i think he was a different person

columbine changed me i know it changed

him obviously

but i don't think he was nearly as

psychotic as he turned out to be

we hate [ __ ] specs

and especially

we

you know what hate hate

racism

anyone who hates asians mexicans or

anyone of a different race just because

they're different

[Music]

lame

god people do not know how to drive

eric tries to detonate one of the 20

pound propane bombs in the cafeteria

it is perhaps his first suicide bid

during the attack

get pretty radioactive in the months

before

eric had been prescribed an

antidepressant drug called zoloft

which is commonly used to treat

obsessive-compulsive disorder

but his condition just seemed to get

worse

he was on zola for six weeks

and he reported

that he was both

having homicidal and suicidal ideation

that's where you constantly think about

hurting yourself or hurting someone else

he did realize it was coming from the

medication

and so did the doctors they took him off

the medication

but all he got in exchange

was a different brand name

he got luvox

at eric harris's autopsy

therapeutic quantities of luvox were

discovered in his bloodstream

dylan klebold's autopsy report found no

traces of drugs

[Music]

was eric's medication one further

element in the columbine tragedy

or was it an underlying psychiatric

condition that the drugs were supposed

to treat

[Music]

one thing is certain

when eric's father heard of the shooting

he immediately thought it could be his

son

911

okay have you spoke with your son today

mr harris

in the three years before columbine

there had been 10 incidents of american

teenagers carrying out gun attacks on

their school

none of these did more than five people

die

[Music]

but eric and dylan set out to kill

hundreds

every aspect of their lives has been

examined in the search for a single

cause that explains how they could carry

out a massacre with such premeditation

and cold ruthlessness

[Music]

but perhaps the answer is that there is

no single cause

[Music]

that eric and dylan were created by a

kind of perfect storm of circumstances

that gave them the means and the

opportunity to carry out an outrageous

act of teenage terrorism

and this was compounded by omissions and

oversights by police parents

doctors

and the school

the perfect storm theory for no one

stopping them works exquisitely there

were a million times someone could have

stepped in

uh there were hundreds and hundreds of

times the police themselves

legally could have stopped them

could have searched could have stopped

them could have gone and talked to the

parents

there were times the parents could have

stepped in and said hey i'm searching

your room oh look 25 pipe bombs gee

something's wrong with you

um

there are a million times it could have

been stopped

[Music]

as midday approaches

eric and dylan make their final journey

back towards the library

a six-man police swat team is about to

enter the school

but from an entrance at the far end of

the building

the police will sweep through the school

room by room

and will reach the library last of all

almost three and a half hours later

since columbine

the local police have reviewed their

tactics on what they call imminent

threats

officers responding to shooting

incidents are now trained to intervene

early

[Music]

eric and dylan arrive back at the

library door

the terrible sights of death have

shrouded in thick smoke

they will make one last near-suicidal

gesture before ending their lives just a

few meters from many of their victims

[Music]

so

[Music]

[Music]

in hindsight

eric and dylan's own home recorded

videotapes carry a fearful warning

but few could have imagined that they

would turn fantasy into tragedy

no you goddamn pizza punk ass [ __ ] do

not mess with that freaking kid if you

do i'll rip off your goddamn head i'm

still so far off your freaking ass

you'll be coughing up dandruff for four

freaking months i don't care what you

say if you ever touch him again i will

freaking kill you i'm gonna pull out a

goddamn shotgun and blow your damn head

off do you understand a little worthless

piece of crap

entry exits

[Music]

i know exactly what their names are and

i've heard him talk about it once before

i know him i thought they were my

friends okay one of them is named dylan

playball we got him