Columbine High closes on 12th anniversary of massacre
Twelve years ago, two classmates walked into their Colorado school strapped with weapons. They never walked out again. By day’s end, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold would kill 12 classmates, one teacher, injured 24 other students and then turn their guns on themselves. The shooting at Columbine rocked the nation.
Twelve years later, many of the problems connected to Columbine remain: it was a crime blamed partially on the evils of the Internet, bullying in school and lax gun laws — all still issues hotly contended today. School shootings continue. Virginia Tech in 2007. Nine separate incidents at schools in 2010. Eleven killed in Brazil in April. On Tuesday, a Houston six-year-old brought a gun to school; three students were injured when the gun accidentally discharged after falling out of the child’s pocket.
The lessons of Columbine are still as murky as the incident itself.