By: JWBM
Back in April of '99, I was at the tail end of middle school—about to start the intimidating leap to high school—when the news came on about the horrendous shooting in Columbine, Colorado. I was nowhere near that state, but it still seemed to hit home after finding out it was just two suburban high school age seniors that massacred fellow classmates and injured many more. A year prior, one of my teachers had addressed a shooting at a middle school in Arkansas where two kids armed themselves to the teeth and then pulled the fire alarm to draw everyone out. Then after, we had to wait for the principal to confirm over the intercom that it was a legitimate drill till we could file out of the classroom safe and sound.
To hear of another the next year seemed a little much. Afterwards the fences went up, security got amped up, and everyone—adults and students alike—were touchy about anything said or done. Back then, not everything was as minute by minute as it is today with instant information at the touch of your fingertips. So, there were times where bits and pieces of the story were only heard and then passed on, which only added to the fear and misinformation that these two incidentally generated on that dark day. No one was in a playing around mood. Since, things have never been the same.
A group of forensic scientists called "Threat Assessment Group," or T.A.G.— that consists of a psychiatrist, violence prevention expert, former FBI profiler, a psychologist, and doctoral candidate—take on the task of a psychiatric autopsy of the two shooters. Being three years after the fact—not to mention the amount of litigation stemming to the parents, to the Sheriff's department, to the school—it was a tough sell to get interviews or even all of the evidence they needed. They approached nearly 200 people with calls and letters, but got only 19 on camera, and another 31 off. Not all of these you get to see. In fact, you only get to see a few brief interview segments in the documentary's under-an-hour run time. Some are vague at that and are only translated second hand from the group. The leader of the group—psychiatrist Park Dietz—developed 12 warning signs of mass murderers that they attempt to line up to the pair. The rest of the documentary focuses on the duo's motivations concerning why they stormed into Columbine High School with the intent of taking as many innocent lives as possible.
One interesting aspect talked about is their fascination with filming and documenting the entire planning process. They made home videos together, and then wrote in separate journals of their detailed thoughts outlining the plan. Being inspired by the Oklahoma City Bombings of a few years earlier, they knew that the media would pick up on it to dissect each shred of evidence. They'd be infamous. It goes to show that they were self-aware at what they were doing and the choices they were going to make. It wasn't an impulsive action that they dreamed up shortly beforehand. They mentally and physically prepared themselves for this. Predictably the media did run with it and there were copycats.
There were snippets of warning signs spread about that other people noticed as abnormal, but no single person put it all together that either of the two were deeply troubled enough to do anything on this scale. They kept their ideas in a closed loop. Similar to how a cult can operate with morally questionable practices and how people can go along with it. Each idea this pair had was repeated and reinforced enough that bad ideas became good ideas without an outside influence to offset their one track mind. Both were suicidal and filled with growing rage. They were described from an early age as being gifted in academics and over-achievers. They redirected their intelligence towards getting away with petty crimes at first, then planning a massacre instead of towards normal goals related to school, or even life after. Their attitude reflected that they were above it all and everyone else around them. They needed someone to blame for their inexplainable inner turmoil. Which, you can imagine, to a short-sighted 17/18 year old is their high school that they attended for the last 4 years. To them, this established a needed purpose and direction as misguided and morally questionable as that was. One could say, 'Guys, you'll be out in a month or two and be free to become bosses to spit on those that spit on you.' But to them, this was their World. The rest was too far off.
This short documentary shed light on some aspects, while other areas are applied to educated guesses. Some specials that have come out since have filled in other pieces of the puzzle a little better. It would ultimately take several books from several angles to unravel all of the intricacies involved. Though it was informational for its time to getting a loose grasp of the duo without being as reactionary as the initial reports in 1999. People were ready to point a finger at anyone and everyone. But I feel that is the problem with some of those involved beforehand. The T.A.G. group—while a little rocky with dissecting new forms of media such as "Doom" and "Natural Born Killers"—looked at it more clinically. They were not just self-destructive, but outwardly as well. They demanded respect, power, and control without actually setting up proper steps to earn those, or how to improve on themselves. Granted, saying that after the fact and off the cuff is wishful thinking. But it's ultimately what got them to walk down this dark path of no return in the first place. Unfortunately, some of the victims and witnesses will have to live with that for the rest of their lives, while others never got a chance.
