Zero Hour (2004–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Massacre at Columbine High - full transcript

NARRATOR: 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.

ERIC: Sometime in April next
year, me and V will get revenge.

Kick natural selection up a few notches.

If we've learned the art
of making time bombs,

we'll set hundreds of them.



Around roads, bridges, buildings

and gas stations...

Anything that will cause damage and chaos.

It will be like the LA riots,

the Oklahoma bombing, World War II,

Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together.

I want to leave a lasting
impression on the world.

NARRATOR: 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.

(GUN FIRING)

NARRATOR: They killed
12 students and one teacher,

injured 23 others and then
turned the guns on themselves.



(SIRENS BLARING)

NARRATOR: This film records events
as they unfolded on that Tuesday morning

during the critical hour between
11:08 a.m. and 12:08 p.m.

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 is possible to reconstruct
a fuller picture of Columbine

and the freakish whirlwind of circumstances

that ended with two teenagers
committing mass murder.

11:08 in the morning, and Eric Harris
is three minutes away from Columbine.

ERIC: NBK came quick,

everything I see and hear,
I relate to NBK somehow,

feels like a goddamn movie sometimes.

NARRATOR: NBK 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 childhoods

who become media celebrities.

For Eric and Dylan,

the movie seems to
represent a kind of redemption

that they, like the fictional
characters, are ultimately superior.

DYLAN: I know we're
going to have followers,

because we're so fuckin' godlike.

I mean we're not exactly human,

we have human bodies.

But we've evolved one step
above you, fucking human shit!

I mean we actually have
fuckin' self-awareness.

NARRATOR: 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, fucking don't
say, "Well that's your fault,"

because it isn't.

You people had my phone
number and I asked an all,

but, "No, don't let the weird Eric
kid come along. Oh, fucking no!"

NARRATOR: In Columbine
High School's unspoken hierarchy,

Eric and Dylan see themselves
at the bottom of the pile,

the weird 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.

BROOKS BROWN: 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.

NARRATOR: Although
Eric and Dylan will not target

the jocks in their shooting rampage,

witnesses will later report
that they both seemed

hell bent on revenge
against the school itself.

RANDY BROWN: 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 this school,

they hated the injustice of this school,

they hated the environment.

And I am not in any way
condoning what they did,

I'm just trying to find the answers.

DYLAN: You've given us shit for years.

You're fucking going
to pay for all this shit.

We don't give a shit...

'cause we're going to die doing it.

NARRATOR: At 11:09 a.m.,
the cafeteria at 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 set to explode at 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 A about his grades.

Um, 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 even I only ditched
one class in a row usually.

Um, and Dylan wasn't there either.

NARRATOR: Another Columbine
student is 17-year-old John Savage.

He's just completed a music class.

JOHN SAVAGE: I got to
school early, did some homework,

you know, it was just one of those days

that you don't expect anything to happen.

We just finished up string orchestra...

and I was trying to
decide whether or not to...

to practice like way back
in the back of the school

in the band room or go to the library.

NARRATOR: 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.

Patti Neilson is a 35-year-old
teacher working part time at the school.

(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

NARRATOR: 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.

BROOKS: 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 a smoke, walk around.

Except this day I saw Eric pull in.

Since he had missed 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 had this little interchange
where I was cussing him out, basically.

Which is really weird that he didn't
shoot me for that... (CHUCKLES)

...but I cussed him out.

NARRATOR: 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.

NARRATOR: Brooks' 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.

RANDY: If they'd acted on these claims...

Eric would have been
in jail, it's very simple.

And Columbine never should have happened.

NARRATOR: In the meantime, Brooks
Brown had made his own peace with Eric.

It 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.

BROOKS: Then he looked at me, I
said, "Dude, you missed a 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 and go home."

Go home.

Okay.

- There's a lot of theories about why he didn't shoot me.
- Whatever.

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 they
let go that day, John Savage actually.

I was friends with him,
Screech, he was a great guy.

NARRATOR: John Savage has decided to
revise for his history test in the library

where the worst of the Columbine
massacre will take place.

NARRATOR: Eric and Dylan have
arrived with a huge arsenal of weapons.

After the attack,

the police would count
two sawn off shotguns,

two 0.9 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've spent a year
gathering these weapons.

A year planning a massacre
intended to wipe the school off the map.

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?

The question still remains unanswered.

Eric's parents have not spoken
publicly since the massacre,

-Hi, Mom! -(DYLAN LAUGHING)

NARRATOR: But his
play-acting at the end of the tape

shows that Eric is well aware of
his skills in the art of deception.

Nothing's going on.

DYLAN: It'll be the most nerve
wracking 15 minutes of my life.

And after the bombs are set and we're
waiting to charge through the school...

Seconds will be like hours.

God, I can't wait.

NARRATOR: In a far corner
of the school parking lot,

Neil Gardener is taking a
quick lunch with Andy Martin,

a Columbine security guard.

Gardener 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.

15 months earlier, they'd 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.

After completing his course,

Eric seemed contrite.

ERIC: I am 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.

NARRATOR: Eric's private
journal tells a different story.

ERIC: Isn't America supposed
to be the land of the free?

How come if I'm free,

I can't deprive some fucking
dumb shit of his possessions,

if he leaves them in the
front seat of his fucking van,

in plain sight, in the
middle of fucking nowhere

on a Fri-fucking-day night?

Natural selection, fucker should be shot!

NARRATOR: 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.

DYLAN: My wrath from
January's incident will be...

Godlike... (CHUCKLES)

...not to mention our
revenge in the Commons.

NARRATOR: 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 minute's 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.

(GUNS COCKING)

The attack is now just seconds away.

Hey, how's it going?

RICHARD CASTALDO: When I first sat
down, you know, to eat my lunch, I saw...

I saw a couple of guys kind of off
to my left, and they threw a, uh...

(SIGHS)

They threw... 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,

it was I guess like a
senior prank or something

because school was about to end.

(FIRST GUNSHOT)

(SECOND GUNSHOT)

I guess it hit Rachel first, but not by,

you know, just by like a
half second or something.

So I kind of remember seeing that

out of the corner of my eye and just...

Just kind of braced myself, I guess, and...

(GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOTS ECHO)

BROOKS: 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."

BROOKS: And it never really
occurred to me that they were gunshots

until I started hearing shotgun
blasts and an explosion...

-so I started running. -(GUNSHOTS)

(GUNSHOTS CONTINUE)

First thought that entered my
mind was I should call my Dad.

Brooks called me, and he said,

"Dad, there's a shooting at the school,"

and instantly I knew it was Eric.

STUDENT: (SPEAKING TO 911) I saw
them throw a couple of grenades on the roof

and they exploded and then I saw them
shooting guns down towards the parking lot.

NARRATOR: Inside the school,
no one's sure what's going on.

-(GUNSHOTS CONTINUE) -Some
think it's just a prank by senior students.

Dave Sanders realizes it
might be much more serious.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Neil, I need
you in the lunchroom urgently.

NARRATOR: Neil Gardener
receives a panicked radio message

from inside the school,
but he thinks, at first,

that it might be no more than an
accident on the school grounds.

(GUNSHOT)

(GROANING) Help...

Sure...

I'll help you.

(GUNSHOT)

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER: ...black
trench coat and a shotgun, okay.

STUDENT: We've got another
kid, he's shot in the face.

- He's shot in the face?
- Half his face is hanging off!

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER: Okay.

All right, everyone. We think
there's someone shooting outside.

-(CHILDREN MURMURING) -Quiet!

I want you all to make your
way outside, this way only.

(GUNFIRE)

-(SCREAMING) -Do not go
out through the parking lot!

POLICE OFFICER: Jefferson County, 911.

STUDENT: Something's going
on at Columbine High School

someone's shooting in here
and someone got shot I think.

POLICE OFFICER: Okay. Can
you see anything going on over there?

STUDENT: Some girl on the
ground says she's paralyzed.

I think she's hurt I'm not...

POLICE OFFICER: Okay, hold on the line...

NARRATOR: 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.

As 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.

Quiet! Quiet, quiet, quiet!

Even if they come in stay very still, okay?

NARRATOR: He will
spend the next two minutes

running through 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,

17-year-old Aaron Hancey is
completing a homework project.

AARON HANCEY: It was a
lunchtime... 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 types of sounds.

And then you started feeling
the floor move or the walls move.

-(GUNFIRE) -Just
really curious at that point

because I had no idea what was going on.

But shortly after, when
a teacher came in...

-(GUN FIRING) -(ALL GASP)

...then we found out what was going on.

(GUNFIRE CONTINUES)

Everybody get down behind your
workbenches. I'm going to lock the door...

HANCEY: The teacher came in and informed us

that people were
shooting inside the school,

and to get down behind the work stations.

-(HUSHED MURMURING) -(GUNFIRE)

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.

(PANTING)

This is what we always wanted to do!

This is...

-...awesome. -Let's do it.

(GUNSHOT)

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER:
You have an emergency?

STUDENT: Yes, we do. POLICE
OFFICER Is that Columbine High School?

STUDENT: Yes! POLICE
OFFICER: Okay, we got it.

STUDENT: They have automatic
weapons, okay? POLICE OFFICER: Yes.

STUDENT: All right.

Can you guys send lots
and lots of paramedics?

(SIREN WAILING)

NARRATOR: Neil Gardener is
the first police officer on the scene.

-Andy, get down! -(GUNFIRE)

(GUNFIRE CONTINUES)

- Code 33, shots fired.
- MALE POLICE OFFICER: Shots in the building...

NARRATOR: Gardener believes, momentarily,
that he may have hit one of the gunmen.

MALE POLICE OFFICER:
Several shots, Code 33.

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER:
All units, 73 is under fire.

NARRATOR: The end of
the gun battle with Gardener

marks the beginning of Eric and
Dylan's attack inside the school.

(LOUD GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOTS)

(SCREAMING)

(SCHOOL BELL RINGING)

(GIRL SCREAMS)

Out of the way!

SAVAGE: Well, the first thing
that I really remember was when...

a lady came running into
the library and she said,

"Everybody get under the tables,

"there's a kid out there with a gun."

Yeah, that was my first like, "Oh,
man, something's going down."

Get down!

Everybody, get down!

Get under the tables!

SAVAGE: I think everyone was just kind
of too shocked to actually do anything,

you know, they were
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.

At 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 at that time
that it could have been a student,

'cause I didn't think anyone at
Columbine would like start shooting people.

(EXPLOSION)

Oh!

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

- I just kind of sat and waited, you know...
- (SIRENS WAILING)

I guess I was just hoping I
wasn't going to die, really.

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(NEILSON SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(NEILSON SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(NEILSON SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(NEILSON SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(GUNFIRE)

Make sure the science labs are locked.

NARRATOR: Dave Sanders is
still trying to clear the hallways.

Five more police units
are nearing the school

Dave Sanders is badly injured,

the killing spree inside
the school is about to begin.

Columbine student, Aaron Hancey,
is still hiding in a science room

when one of his teachers returns,
trying to find anyone who knows first aid.

HANCEY: I told them I did...

and then just made a mad
dash across the hallway.

Bombs were still exploding,
guns were still being fired.

They could come around the corner any time.

(GUNFIRE)

(LOUD EXPLOSION)

NARRATOR: Dave Sanders
has crawled out of the hallway

and collapsed in a nearby science room.

He's in desperate need
of medical attention.

HANCEY: And then we
went through the back doors

into the core science room,
where I found Dave Sanders.

- Mr. Sanders, it's okay, we're here to help you.
- (SANDERS GROANING)

It's Aaron, the paramedics
are on their way.

HANCEY: 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 the chest at close
range or something like that.

We're going to push you a
little bit on your back here.

NARRATOR: Aaron quickly
discovers that Dave Sanders

has an entry wound in each shoulder.

HANCEY: When I looked over the situation...

Yeah, he'd 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,
you're doing great, Mr. Sanders.

NARRATOR: Teacher
Teresa Miller tries calling 911,

but the lines are constantly busy.

Help is on the way, don't worry.

HANCEY: I thought we
were going to be able...

to take him out and
that he could get fixed,

get operated on, if needs be, and recover.

(SIRENS WAILING)

NARRATOR: By now, there are
six police units outside the school.

Some are tending to frightened and
injured students around the parking lots,

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.

(CLOCK TICKING)

I'm not sure... 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.

Get up!

Everybody with white hats, stand up!

This is for all the shit you've
given us for the past four years.

SAVAGE: They said, "Everyone get out!

"We're going to blow up the
library," and then I thought,

"Oh, well, maybe they just want to
blow up the library as, like, a statement."

You know maybe they don't
actually want to hurt anybody.

So I kinda...

Like I thought about,
like maybe just getting up

and leaving and letting them like...

Blow up a bunch of books, but
then, like, no one else got up,

so I was like, "Ah, maybe I'll just stay."

Fine, I'll start shooting anyway!

(GUNS COCKING)

(WHISPERING) My God, they're in here.

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER:
Okay, stay with me, ma'am,

you're doing great, you
are doing great, okay?

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER: Now
they've said he's gone to the library.

He's in the building. Okay,
they've gone to the library.

SAVAGE: After they'd
walked about halfway through

into the library was when
they came into my view.

And then I could see that it was
actually people that I knew, students,

and it was just these two
people that I thought were just

ordinary, regular kids,
who were suddenly, like,

blowing things up and shooting,

and I was like, "What are they doing?"

Let's go kill some cops.

-(GUNFIRE) -Shooter!

FEMALE POLICE OFFICER:
They're shooting in the library right now.

(SIRENS WAILING)

(GIRL GROANING)

Quit your bitching.

(METAL CLANGS)

Peek-a-boo.

(GUNSHOT)

Do you want to die, huh?

Well, we're all going to die,

we're going to blow up the school, anyway.

They said... Something about, like...

Like, "Oh look, it's the little nigger,"

or something like that and I
knew who they were talking about.

Reb!

There's a nigger over here.

(GRUNTING)

Come on!

SAVAGE: And then I heard some
more banging, you know, gunshots.

I can't believe I just did that...

Cool.

I kind of assumed that
they'd shot him, but like,

you know, like I couldn't see so I was

I guess kind of hoping for the best.

- (SIRENS WAILING)
- (HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)

Who's ready to die next?

NARRATOR: Aaron Hancey 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?"

Uh...

get away from the
pessimistic side of things

and try to be optimistic,

and to see the things he did love.

-(EXPLOSION) -(SCREAMS)

Listen up, you fucking
scared pieces of shit,

this school is fucking dead!

MALE POLICE OFFICER: I'm in the back,

I've got some smoke
coming from the building,

I'm over here with (INDISTINCT) the unit.

(WHOOPING)

(CHUCKLES)

DYLAN: Pathetic!

Please don't let me die.

-Do you believe in God? -Yes.

Why? Huh?

Because I believe, because my
parents brought me up that way.

(GUNS COCKING)

(PANICKED BREATHING)

NARRATOR: The phone
line left open by Patti Neilson

records the sound of
the killings in the library.

During the shooting

you can hear Dylan
saying all kinds of things

to people before he kills
them, but Eric doesn't.

I mean there's a very distinct difference

between how the two
handled the shooting that day.

And also 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.

And I was like, "Man, this...

"I could die here."

It was pretty shocking, I guess.

Who's under there? Identify yourself.

And I said, "It's John," because
you know, I kind of knew him a little

and I was hoping he'd like
remember that I wasn't a jock

and that I'd, you know, tried to
treat him with respect and stuff.

John Savage?

Yeah.

SAVAGE: Hey, Dylan... What are you doing?

(EXHALES) I'm 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 know, 'cause of the
fire alarms and everything.

So I asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

(BELL RINGING)

Are you going to kill me?

No, man, just get out of here.

Just run.

Run.

Run!

NARRATOR: As the killings
go on unchecked in the library

the police presence
outside continues to build.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

Gunshots from the library are clearly
heard and reported by officers outside,

who are just tens of meters away.

The police now also have good
descriptions of Eric and Dylan,

but no officers will enter the
school for another half an hour.

Later, the police will say they'd
received 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.

RANDY: 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 being 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,

they 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.

SAVAGE: I was actually that they might change
their minds, so I ran as fast as I could

in case they decided to turn
around and shoot me in the back.

-(GUNFIRE CONTINUES) -(TRIGGER CLICKS)

ERIC: I'm out of ammo.

Maybe we should start knifing
people, that'd be more fun.

SAVAGE: I guess really it made
me realize how short life is, you know.

When you're young it
seems like it's going to like

go on forever and you
have plenty of time...

You don't have forever.

NARRATOR: The seven-minute
killing spree in the library

comes to a sudden end just before 11:36.

(EXPLOSION)

Evan Todd...

NARRATOR: Even though Dylan now
confronts one of the school's athletes,

the injured Evan Todd,
he threatens and abuses...

but doesn't kill.

Do you want to go to the Commons?

I've one more thing to do.

NARRATOR: He now seems
reduced to a gesture of repressed rage.

By the time Eric and
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.

(INDISTINCT PHONE CHATTER)

NARRATOR: There are
still hundreds of students

and teachers hiding
elsewhere in the school.

HANCEY: At one point, when
Teresa was still on the phone

and she was looking outside the
door trying to see what was going on,

she saw the shooters come down the hall.

They reloaded their firearms
right there in front of the classroom.

The door had a 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 scariest points

of the whole ordeal, just
because they were right there.

MALE POLICE OFFICER:
Is he still conscience?

MAN: Yes. Said he's Dave Sanders.

His name is Dave Sanders,

MALE POLICE OFFICER: Dave Sanders, okay.

HANCEY: I found out the next
morning that Dave had 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.

It broke my heart to think that he did die,

because I tried my best.

NARRATOR: 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.

JUDY: 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 him

because Eric didn't have as many friends.

Dylan had friends, people liked 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've been
freshman and sophomore year,

I don't think 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, um...

He didn't nearly have the simmering anger

that he did later on, by any means.

He was a different person.

Columbine changed me and I
know it changed him, obviously.

But I don't think he was nearly
as psychotic as he turned out to be.

ERIC: We hate niggers, spics,

and especially you white pieces of shit.

We hate you.

You know what I hate?

Racism.

Anyone who hates Asians,
Mexicans or anyone of a different race

just because they're different.

You know what I hate? Star Wars fans.

Get a frigging life, you boring geek.

You know what I hate?

People who drive slow in a fast lane.

God, you people do not know how to drive!

NARRATOR: 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 on...

NARRATOR: In the months before,

Eric had been prescribed an
anti-depressant drug called Zoloft,

which is commonly used to treat
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

But his condition just seemed to get worse.

He was on Zoloft 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

and 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.

NARRATOR: At Eric Harris' autopsy,

therapeutic quantities of Luvox
were discovered in his bloodstream.

Dylan Klebold's autopsy
report found no traces of drugs.

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?

One thing is certain,

when Eric's father heard of the shooting,

he immediately thought it could be his son.

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(WAYNE HARRIS SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(WAYNE HARRIS SPEAKING)

(FEMALE POLICE OFFICER SPEAKING)

(WAYNE HARRIS SPEAKING)

NARRATOR: In the three
years before Columbine,

there had been 10 incidents
of American teenagers

carrying out gun attacks on their school.

In none of these did
more than five people die.

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.

But perhaps the answer is
that there is no single cause.

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.

There were hundreds and hundreds of times

the police themselves
legally could've stopped them,

could've searched, could've stopped them,

could've gone and talked to the parents.

There were times the
parents could've stepped in

and said, "Hey, I'm searching your room.

"Oh, look, 25 pipe bombs. Gee,
something's wrong with you."

Um...

There were a million times
it could have been stopped.

NARRATOR: 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.

Eric and Dylan arrive
back at the library door.

The terrible sights of death
are 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.

(GUNFIRE)

(GUNFIRE CONTINUES)

NARRATOR: In hindsight...

Eric and Dylan's own home recorded
video tapes carry a fearful warning.

(LAUGHING)

But few could've imagined that
they would turn fantasy into tragedy.

Whoo-hoo! (LAUGHS)

No, you goddamn piece of punk ass shit,

do not mess with that frigging kid!

If you do, I will rip off your goddamn head

and shove it so far up your frigging ass

you'll be coughing up
dandruff for four frickin' months!

I don't care what you say,

if you ever touch him
again, I will frickin' kill you!

I will pull out the goddamn shot
gun and blow your damn head off!

Do you understand, you
little worthless piece of crap?

ERIC: Entry, exit.

(LAUGHTER)

(GUNSHOTS)

(SINGLE GUNSHOT)

MALE POLICE OFFICER:
Okay, what you got for me?

WOMAN: Okay, last name is Harris.

-Yeah, we got it. -First is Eric.

-Eric Harris? -Yeah, Eric Harris.

-Okay. -He's a student at Columbine...

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

BOY: I know exactly what their names are,

and I've heard them
talk about it once before,

I know them, I thought
they were my friends.

- Okay.
- One of them is named Dylan Klebold...

- Okay, we got him.
- MAN: We don't have an exact number yet,

we guess from what I heard
before, six to eight outside,

we don't know who's injured inside yet...

MAN 1: How's Mr. Sanders doing?

MAN 2: How's Mr. Sanders doing now?

MAN 3: He's still breathing.