been knocked unconscious, and Lisa Kreutz, who was unable to move, remained in the building. Patti Nielson joined Brian Anderson and the three library staff in the exterior break room into which Klebold had earlier fired shots. They locked themselves in and remained there until they were freed at approximately 3:30 p.m. After leaving the library, the pair went into the science area and threw a small firebomb into an empty storage closet. When the bomb exploded, they ran off while a teacher in the adjacent room put out the fire. They proceeded toward the south hallway, stopped, and shot into an empty science room at the end of the hall.
At approximately 11:44 a.m., they went down the staircase into the cafeteria where they were recorded by the security cameras. The recording shows Harris kneeling on the landing and firing a shot toward a propane bomb, unsuccessfully attempting to detonate it. He took a sip from one of the drinks left behind by fleeing students as Klebold approached the propane bomb. The recording shows Klebold lighting a Molotov cocktail and throwing it at the propane bomb. As the two left the cafeteria, it exploded, partially detonating one of the propane bombs at 11:46 a.m. A gallon of fuel ignited in the same vicinity at 11:48 a.m., causing a fire that was extinguished by the fire sprinklers.
The shooters then left the cafeteria and headed back upstairs. Once again on the upper level, they wandered around the main north and south hallways of the school, shooting aimlessly. They walked through the south hallway, past the social studies section, and into the main office before returning to the north hallway. Several times, they looked through windows on the classroom doors, and even made eye contact with students, but never attempted to enter the rooms. After leaving the main office, the pair went up to a bathroom entrance and began taunting students inside, saying 'We know you're in there,' and 'Let's kill anyone we find in here,' but they never actually entered the bathroom. At 11:55 a.m., the two returned to the cafeteria and entered the kitchen briefly, only to return up the staircase and into the south hallway, at 11:58 a.m.
At 12:02 p.m., the shooters re-entered the library, now empty of all living students except for the unconscious Patrick Ireland and Lisa Kreutz. Once inside, they shot at police through the west windows again to no avail. At approximately 12:08 p.m., they moved over to the bookshelves near the table where Patrick Ireland lay. There, they shot themselves.
Patrick Ireland regained and lost consciousness several times, and crawled over to the windows. At 2:38 p.m., he attempted to exit, falling out the library window near two SWAT team members, a scene rebroadcast on many media outlets. As documented by the video footage, the SWAT team members were later criticized for allowing Ireland's body to drop over seven feet to the ground while doing nothing to attempt to catch him or break his fall.
Lisa Kreutz remained injured in the library. In an interview, she recalled hearing somebody say something like, 'You in the library…' around the time Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were getting ready to commit suicide. She lay bleeding in the library until police arrived. Kreutz said that she kept track of time by the school's bells, becoming lighthead when she tried to move. She was removed, along with Ms. Nielson, Brian Anderson, and the three staff, at 3:22 p.m.
A call for additional ammunition for police officers in case of a shootout came at 12:20 p.m. The killers had ceased shooting just minutes earlier. Authorities reported pipe bombs at 1:00 p.m., and two SWAT teams entered the school at 1:09 p.m., moving from classroom to classroom, discovering hidden students and faculty. All students, teachers, and school employees were taken away, questioned, and then offered medical care in small holding areas before being bussed to meet with family members at Leawood Elementary. Officials found the bodies in the library by 3:30 p.m.
By 4:00 p.m., the sheriff made an initial estimate of twenty-five dead students and teachers. The estimate was ten over the true count, but close to the total count of wounded students. He stated that police officers were searching the bodies of Harris and Klebold. At 4:30 p.m., the school was declared safe. At 5:30 p.m., additional officers were called in, as more explosives were found in the parking lot and on the roof. By 6:15 p.m., officials had found a bomb in Klebold's car in the parking lot. The sheriff decided to mark the entire school as a crime scene. Thirteen of the dead, including the shooters, were still inside the school at the time. At 10:45 p.m., the bomb in the car detonated when an officer tried to defuse it. The car was damaged, but no one was injured. In the end, twelve students and one teacher were killed; twenty-four other students were injured. Three more were injured indirectly as they attempted to escape the school. Harris and Klebold are thought to have committed suicide about forty-five minutes after the massacre began.
The following are those who pointlessly died on April 20, 1999. God bless them all:
The official Memorial Columbine website:
http://acolumbinesite.com/resources.html
The Ecole Polytechnique Massacre
Perpetrator – Marc Lepine
