Columbine (1) PDF

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paper based on the mass shooting of columbine high school/...

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In Dave Cullen’s Columbine (Cullen, D. (2016). Columbine. New York, NY: Twelve) ,on April 20, 1999, two high school students – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School in Littleton, arrived with the intention of a killing spree. They killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. People were eager to know the details of the event and the motivations of the offenders. The investigation took months, and many of the parents filed lawsuits in an effort to get information. Several of the lawsuits were settled but others dragged on for years. This criminal activity

bothplanted two bombs based on portable propane bottles and had similar bombs in their cars and one across the town. The boysparked their cars in a way which would make killing the people who tried to escape from the building easier. However, the bombs planted in the building did not go off as planned. The two boys, without an apparent backup plan, went inside the school to perform the killings with firearms and pipe bombs. They killed aimlessly for about 15 minutes before returning to the library. They planted one last bomb there, and shot themselves. The SWAT team reached the library after almost 3 hours, out of all the victims, 12 had already died by that time and many were hiding. The Columbine Massacre was the first to be played out on television with those trapped inside calling out on cell phones frantically for help. Hence, no criminal event occurs randomly, they usually comprise of three different stages; precursors, transactions, and the aftermath. Which lay the foundation of the incident in specific place and time. THEORETICAL CONTEXT Historically, every criminal activity was largely understood in terms of actions of criminal offenders. This means that crime occurs only because the desire of the person to behave

criminally. However, it is impossible to study crimes without including the offender but there are many other elements which contribute to the offence. For example, different people witnessing the event can have effects on the way the offender reacts or victims trying to avoid victimization during the activity can affect the course of activity. The physical and social setting of the crime cannot be ignored as well. Many crimes occur at places where potential victims and offenders engage. There are many responses to criminal activities by people towards police pursuit, law makers and social group. After combining all these factors, we view the criminal activity as an event that encourages us to extend beyond the study of just offenders. (Pg 45) Criminal events derive from predisposing conditions, which separates social behavior that is criminogenic (that extracts crime) and which is not. The precursors or the crime are the specific conditions or behaviors that may lead to the commission of a criminal activity, and they allow us to see that same behaviors might have different definitions and consequences in different circumstances. Precursors are the factors that bring people together in time and space for example- age, sex and lifestyle. By transactions we mean the authentic exchanges that take place during the event, which includes the offender's behavior, role of the victim and the effects of third parties have on the event. While studying these, we assess the circumstances, incidence, and the frequency of certain crimes. Here the criminal event is not viewed in isolation but is related to other social events. How the event was executed, to what extent was the harm caused and was there anyone present to examine the actual crime scene? If so, then what were the actions and effects of the third parties present there? Similar transactions tell us about the groups affected by different types of crimes. Study of different criminal transactions show us that crime is not a random activity that can occur with anyone at any

time. Rather criminal offences occur at specific times, at specific places, with some motive and pattern. While successfully analyzing a criminal event, we are not just concerned with the true crime that took place but also the reactions of the police, victims and others. The study of aftermath also includes many kinds of costs. They largely consist of financial, physical, emotional and behavioural costs. Financial costs can be direct or indirect, direct costs including the value of the damage done to property or any costs related to the medical care and indirect costs are loss of work time, child care, lifestyle changes etc. physical consequences tell us about the direct physical injuries acquired due to the criminal event and their long-term effects. Emotional consequences vary from victim to victim and can be mild to extreme. The most common effect observed in the victims is anger, helplessness, weakness and fear of the crime. Behavioural consequences are mainly related to the recovery of the victim. The time and assistance required by the victim to start performing their routine life activities again. ANALYSIS The school shooting described in Dave Cullen’s Columbine was not just any random idea that came to the mind of the killers but was a strategically planned and executed incident with the sole intention of killing. There were many factors that led to the killing spree performed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Dylan’s journal gave away a lot of information, he was in pain and thought that his existence was shit, but nobody got it so he relied on Vodka. Where Dylan’s journal was filled with suicidal thoughts, love and self disgust, Eric writings consisted just of hate, even on his website he would write about the things he hated. There were almost 50 random entries of the things he hated (183 pg) however, there was one thing that he loved, explosions. He wrote on his website about the details of the bombs, nevertheless, the specifics about detonation of bombs did

not go unnoticed by everyone, Randy Brown called the sheriff after reading Eric’s website and that is how the columbine killer’s name permanently entered the law enforcement department (185 pg). Dylan’s journal soon went off from killing himself to killing others, when he named a friend and said, he “will get me a gun, I’ll go on a killing spree against anyone I want” (198pg) Childhood offending is considered as a significant predictor or precursor of probability of future offending. It does not mean that everyone who has offended in their childhood will turn out to be psychopaths or depressed-suicidal killers like those of columbine, but, according to criminologists, the stakes are high if there are previous offending’s involved. Dylan, Eric, and Zack spent lots of time together two years prior to the massacre. The boys would spend the night together, sneak out and do minor mischief to someone's house, and return. One fine day, Dylan, Eric and Zac got caught breaking in lockers at the school. Eric and Dylan’s parents forbade them any kind of contact with each other, however, they regrouped but this time Zach was not a part of it. Eric and Dylan were in trouble several times, including once for stealing electronics from a van (ch35). Fuselier continued to evaluate what he knew about Dylan and Eric and came to believe the boys had never just snapped as some people wanted to believe. Instead, he believed the arrest for breaking into the van created the catalyst that fueled their rage. Eric had really wanted to eliminate the human race. He was, however, realistic enough to know that was beyond his power. What was within his power was to blow up a high school. He began with pipe bombs and kept careful records of his progress and the results of his test fires. (ch 42). These were the few petty offending’s that may have led to one of the biggest killing spree’s in the history of America. Many people wanted to understand why Dylan and Eric went on the rampage, the problem with that was that the boys were psychopaths, and most people couldn't understand how

their minds work. Lack of empathy was a key factor in diagnosing a psychopath and Eric and Dylan displayed that classic trait (ch 40). The precursors of the criminal event lead to the transactions, which consists of the certain incident. Even though the planning began way earlier in time, the definite exchange of events started on April 20, 1999, when Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, from Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado arrived at their school wearing trench coats with the sole purpose of killing. They called the date set aside for the massacre, "Judgment Day." (ch 8) They didn’t go to school until 11 that day, just like they had planned and parked their cars in a way which would make killing the people who tried to escape the building easier. But their plan went wrong from the beginning itself, the bombs which they had planted in the building did not go of as they were supposed to. Since the boys had no backup plan, they went inside the school to perform the killings with firearms and pipe bombs. A girl named Rachel Scott was the first victim of the massacre, she died instantly. Followed by many others, some of them were dead instantly however, others played dead and many were injured. Nevertheless, most of them have cover by the end of 4 minutes (ch11). Then, the first 911 call was made, and Officer Gardener made his way to the crime scene. Despite the deaths that had already occurred, and the detonation of several pipe bombs, many students and teachers didn't know there was a problem at all. A sign appeared in Science Room 3 that read, "1 BLEEDING TO DEATH." That 1, was Coach Dave Sanders, who had survived the initial shot but bled to death over the hours it took for the SWAT team to arrive (ch 14). When Eric and Dylan went to the library, Patrick Ireland and his friends were all shot. Patrick was alive but barely functioning, his one side was paralyzed,, and his foot shattered. He went to a window and, managed to push himself out, collapsing onto the armored truck (ch16). The SWAT team entered the building at 3:15, and the fire alarms and strobe lights

were still going off, and the team had to depend on hand signals to communicate. They discovered bodies, including those of Dylan and Eric, dead of self-inflicted wounds. Meanwhile, many students had escaped and contacted the authorities and news reporters. Plentiful had identified the shooters as Eric and Dylan by that time. Many of the families had reconciled with their kids, however, many were still waiting for the information, any information. Dave sander’s family was waiting for him to come back. They even went to the hospital to find him, but he wasn’t there, and never arrived (ch18). Numerous families did not have any knowledge about their kids, and those who did, were not allowed to go inside the school building because of the fear of the bombs planted like that of Danny’s. Brian, Danny’s father went to the school and demanded Danny's body ,but the police refused, and the body remained on the lawn, uncovered, for twenty-eight hours. Columbine shooting left a big impact on the survivors, their families, and public in general.

This is how Dave Cullen’s Columbine tells us that every criminal activity, no mater how small or big it is, can never be random in time, space and cannot be called pattern less. Crime does not just occur anywhere. It is mostly planned and evolves over a period and can be classifies in three different stages; precursors- the behaviours predicting crime or leading towards it. The transactions- the series of exchange that occurs during the crime and finally the aftermath, the time followed by the crime- the impacts on the victim, their families and the recovery period. Analysis of all these factors tell us completely about “the criminal event”.

Klebold, S. (2017). Retrieved August 02, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story#t108650

Klebold, S. (2017). Retrieved August 02, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story#t108650...