Premium Essay

Columbine Shooting Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 465
Pages 2
Running head: SERIAL KILLER PAPER

Serial Killer Paper: The Columbine Tragedy
Carsyn Ehlinger
DMACC

Abstract
The Columbine Massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 20th, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado. Shooters Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold killed 13 in what was then the biggest school shooting. The Columbine massacre is a topic of interest because it was one of the first heavily reported mass shootings, and had been handled poorly by law enforcement. Today Columbine stands as an example for law enforcement, and is one of the most popular copy-cat murders. On April 20th, 1999, only seventeen days before senior graduation, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School and killing twelve students, one teacher, and injuring many more before taking their own lives. …show more content…
It all started when two gunman Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, walked into Columbine high school around 11:14 dressed in long black trench coats carrying two 20-pound duffle bags containing propane bombs they placed in the cafeteria set to go off at 11:17 am. According to a journal Harris had kept, which was confiscated after the shooting, the bombs were to go off during ‘A’ lunch when the cafeteria would be its most populated. The two boys then proceeded to the parking and waited in their cars for the explosives to go

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Columbine High School Shooting Research Paper

...“goodbye” or “I love you”. Most likely regretting everything they had done or said to their loved one the day before, or what they did not tell them. Although the Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event in history, society has benefitted by bringing about school security, practicing evacuation procedures during school, and brought awareness to the issue of gun control. The Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event within United States history that occurred on April 20, 1999. The traumatizing...

Words: 1307 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Student

...CASE STUDY PAPER 1 Kid Killers: Delinquency Theories Arache Lotfalian UMUC CCJS 350 Professor Donovan 11/29/2012 CASE STUDY PAPER 2 In the middle class suburban town of Littleton, near Denver Colorado, a 17 year old murderous fantasy is beginning to take shape. Eric Harris and a friend known as “Vulcan” or “V” intend to commit an act so violent that it will secure their place in history. The following is an expert from Harris’s Journal, mastermind behind the Columbine Shooting: “Sometime in April next year, me and “V” will get revenge, kick natural selection up a few notches. If we’ve learned anything about the art of making pipe 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 L.A. riots, Oklahoma City bombings, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together. I want to leave a lasting impression on the world.” 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. They killed twelve students and one teacher; injured twenty three others and then turned the guns on themselves (Avila, 2000). Immediately following the mass shootings, media, sociologists and criminologists set about the difficult task of discovering the motives of the killers and answering the question of whether or not problems within society allowed this to happen....

Words: 1999 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Gun Control Research Paper

...Gun Control Research Paper In 2018 there have been 30 mass shootings in the united states, with the most recent and second most deadly in florida at stoneman high school which claimed 17 victims and many more injured. Nicholas Cruz a 19 year old former student of the school walked into the highschool, after he pulled the fire alarm and reacted like a student at the school panicked and ran out the building. The gunman then started firing shots at students, Then entered the school and shot up 17 students. People need to have information on these statistics because there have been too many shootings in the recent years, and no body has taken action until the parkland shooting. As a student attending a college i believe there should be way more...

Words: 1714 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Media Violence Promotes Aggression

...Running head: Does Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior? Valerie Bean Psychology 150-107 October 29, 2011 Abstract There have been many studies done on the effects of media violence exposure and aggressive behavior. First the term media violence needs to be examined. What form of media violence is perceived to be the most influential? There are television shows, movies, music, news shows and newspapers, video games and cartoons. What type of violence such as, murder, rape, bullying, or theft is the public more apt to associate with and be affected by? Should a look at how true violent crimes are reported by the media also be considered? Last we should also look at statistics of rising population and families that have more than one income to survive now compared to 60 years ago. The term “media violence” is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as: Media – Plural of the word medium which is the means of communication, such as radio, television, newspaper, magazines, music etc. that reaches or influences people widely Violence – an exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse; injury by or as if by distortion infringement or profanation; an intense, turbulent or furious and often destructive action of force. Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior? There are many forms of media and different ways they can influence behavior. Researchers, Politicians, Psychiatrists, and...

Words: 1639 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Guns in Schools

...Guns in Schools With the number of mass school shootings and incidents of violence in schools that have been reported since April 20, 1999; the public is crying out for stricter laws to help protect our children. In direct response to the Columbine High School shooting, schools across the country adopted a variety of “safety” measures that included mandatory uniforms to prevent the wearing of gang colors and allowing faculty to more readily identify intruders, installation of metal detectors and security cameras, ID badges to be worn at all times, and the increased presence of armed guards on campuses. While these measures are all intended to protect our children the fact that we are still experiencing violence in our schools say that these measures are not enough. While metal detectors and armed guards in our schools are a step in the right direction, not all school districts can afford to employ them. Palmer ISD, in Palmer, Texas, with its school population of 1,100 students is approaching this dilemma by allowing a select few teachers and staff to be trained and cleared to carry concealed weapons. Only Kevin Noack, school superintendent, and the local Police Department will know who is carrying. (pp3) This policy will go into effect as early as this coming school year. With children being our greatest hope for the future, I support training and arming our teachers to protect this precious resource. Schools are generally viewed by terrorists...

Words: 2018 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

College English - Research - Gun Violence

...Instructor Quesenbury English 1301 - 002 03 December 2014 Research Paper Today's schools have to focus on so much more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Although school officials strive to protect the student and faculty from gun violence, it's a reality in today's world. Truly something is seriously wrong because school buildings should be a safe place for all. Study after study conducted on the who's and why's of school gun violence reveals an important fact: There is no reasonable answer for such violence to have taken such a rise in incidence and continue to be the prevailing societal threat it is today, in every school across the nation, especially large school communities. The whole community needs to act together and get involved. The statistics are threatening enough. The U.S. Department of Education estimated 5.5 million students were enrolled in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in the 2006-07 school year. Among this population, during this single year, there were 767,000 violent assaults and 35 (27 homicides and 8 suicides) school associated violent deaths (Dinkes, pars. 5, 6, 10). From the broader period, years 1999 to 2006, reported 116 students killed in 109 school associated incidents (Shuster, par. 2). Although national attention to school shootings has heightened in recent years, a violent incident in a school setting was first recorded in 1955. In a Swathermore College dorm in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania on January 11, Bob Bechtel, age 22...

Words: 1794 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Meow

...Kylie Murphy C.C.C. Annotated Bibliography “Five myths about gun control” By Robert J. Spitzer, December 21, 2012 1. I like this article because it states specific facts about gun control and not just opinions. It talks about all the myths about gun control, one myth is that gun control is a losing battle for Democrats. But, that is false because many democrats have voiced their opinion on the topic. Another myth is that guns are deadliest as murder weapons which has been also proven false because statistics show that gun suicide is more common than gun homocide. Another myth is that American schools have become shooting galleries. Horrible incidents like Sandy Hook and Columbine have happened but schools are still a safe place. Schools are starting to take a lot of precautions like lock down drills, metal detectors, and the presense of a resource officer. “…the odds of a child dying from a violent attack at school are about one in a million.”which may be very comforting to you but unfortunetely not to the families in connecticut and elsewhere. Another myth Robert talks about in this article is that gun regulations are incompatible with America’s gun heritage, but today four states have completely elimintated permits for handgun ownership and carrying. The last myth that Robert talks about is that the Second Amendment was intended to protect the right of Americans to raise up against a tyrannical government. If that was true it would defeat the whole purpose of the Bill...

Words: 1769 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Gun Legalization Benefits and Disadvantages in the Usa

...disadvantages to the American society. In states where legalization of guns has been effected, citizens have realized numerous benefits. However, the legalization of guns has not been without disadvantages because when the guns find their way into the hands of gangs and children owing to the availability, high rates of crime and deaths are witnessed. Therefore, gun legalization in United States is an issue which has come to the forefront and should be accorded all attention bearing in mind the benefits as well as the disadvantages (Blek 121). Cook, Molliconi and Cole (60) state that guns are weapons that can be used to mitigate crime or violence but can be used to perpetuate violence and crime. It is true that guns do not do the real shooting: people do the shooting. It is the person who possesses the gun and the intent to do harm that we should be worried about. The pride of a person with a gun can actually make him or her to impose his or her will upon other people. This aspect is what puts the legalization of guns in jeopardy because when guns are in the wrong hands, crime and violence sets in. On the other hand, guns that have been acquired legally for instance 40% ownership in every household and that are in responsible hands can lead to 60% reduction in crime. This is due to the reason that criminals are not oblivious to the fact that their potential victims may be armed and may pose resistance that...

Words: 2585 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Sociology

...been an issue since at least 1934, when Congress passed a law restricting machine guns and sawed-off shotguns . An Author points out that after the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, a law was passed that banned the importation of inexpensive handguns called "Saturday Night Specials;" in 1993, the Brady Bill was passed, which required background checks for handgun purchases; and a 1994 law banned the sale of semiautomatic assault guns . Since 1994, there has been very little gun control legislation. An author cites several incidents that produced gun control debate, but no legislation: the assassination of president Kennedy and the assassination attempt on President Reagan; the shooting of Federal agents by the heavily armed followers of David Koresh in Waco, Texas; and the April...

Words: 1036 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Cyberbullying

...Cyber Bullying: It’s Causes and Effects on Adolescents John Flanders Pima Medical Institute The causes and effects of Cyber Bullying, and Bullying in general, can be not only detrimental for the fragile psyche of children but it’s a new menace to society. Cyber Bullying has swept across the world at a high rate. There is an abundance of websites and foundations that have been created just to fight this plague. The majority of the information that has been pulled together for this paper is from various websites and foundations that were created by the parents of children who have taken their lives due to the negative effects of being bullied both at school, on the way home from school, and in their very own homes via social media. Bullying of all forms has been tied to every single school shooting that has occurred over the last 20 years. Cyberbullying is an epidemic that is more widespread amongst adolescent females than males. The definition of cyber bullying, per the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is the electronic posting of mean spirited messages about a person (as a student) often done anonymously. It first became noticed in 2000. The different types of cyber bullying are exclusion, harassment, outing, cyber stalking, flaming, pseudonyms, and anonymity. Some examples of methods used in cyber bullying Cyberbullying.info are as follows: * Exclusion- In many cases, teenagers who don't have mobile phone are excluded from the group of teenagers who do. Girls...

Words: 2495 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

The Battle for the 2nd Amendment

...abiding citizens to get firearms because criminals that want to obtain firearms will start to find illegal ways to obtain them. There are many questions that can be brought up about gun control and whether or not it is infringing on our American Bill of Rights. It seems to be a huge topic of discussion and in modern America leads to a lot of debate. Some questions that we face on gun-control are as follows. If the government put in place stricter gun-control laws does it infringe on people’s rights to own guns? The current laws that are in place are they truly enforceable? Should the governments’ stricter gun laws prohibit gun sales at gun shows without background checks? Would more guns, not less, prevent shooting massacres or gun crimes like the Sandy Hook Shooting? Also, will banning assault rifles and high capacity magazines lessen gun-violence like so many would like to believe here in the United States of America? Should gun-control even be a debate; should one individuals fear infringe upon the rights of another that were ratified December 15, 1791? There seems to never be an ending to this debate and just as one question gets answered another seems to pop up in its place. The unfortunate events that are referred to when pushing for gun control laws are in all honesty...

Words: 1810 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Analytical Summaries

... 2 Shooting in the Dark The article “Shooting in the Dark” is about the connection between violent crimes and video game use. Social scientist have been studying the effects of media violence and video game violence since the 1950’s to the 1980’s. Research has shown that boys are more likely to play violent video games than girls. Research has also shown that playing violent video games does stir up hostile urges and aggression in the short term and that younger kids that develop a gaming habit (over a one to two year period) can be slightly more aggressive. It has not yet been determined whether or not playing video games for a period longer than two years can lead to acts of violent crime. Christopher Barlett, a psychologist at Iowa State University, conducted a study in which he had 47 students play “Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance” for 15 minutes and had another group of students play a nonviolent video game. The results of the study showed that students that played “Mortal Kombat” were more aggressive than the group of students that played a nonviolent video game. Similar studies done have shown the same results. Although studies have shown that video games do increase aggression, it is not the only factor that causes people to commit violent crimes; there are many factors that come into play such as psychological disorders, feeling socially isolated, being bullied, etc. Not everyone agrees with the research findings though. Some people...

Words: 1758 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Violent Media and Violent Behavior

...or lashing out towards others playing the game with them or towards the game itself. Dr. Jordan Grafman at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke conducted a study which showed adolescent boys that were exposed to violent games over a long period of time tended to show aggressive behavior, desensitization, and loss of empathy. Twenty-two boys were chosen to view short clips that show different range of violent from low, mild, and moderate. The ones who were expose to more violent movies, videos, or television shows were the one who were had less empathy. Dr. Grafman concluded that those who were more desensitization were the most likely to have violent behavior and less empathy. There was another study done from 130 research reports on more than 130,000 subjects worldwide which was done by Craig Anderson a professor of psychology at Iowa State University and the director of Iowa State's Center for the Study of Violence. When the study was published Anderson stated (2010) that such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases pro-social behavior. These are not huge effects--not on the order of joining a gang vs. not joining a gang. But these effects are also not trivial in size. It is one risk...

Words: 2351 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Gun Control

...Gun Control Concealed Weapons Laws in Arizona Vernon Daniels Jr. Com 220 Jewel Jackson “Gun Control” Concealed Weapons Laws in Arizona Arizona has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation. It also has one of the highest rates of gun deaths in the country. But, how closely are guns and violence connected? The answer, like much involving guns in America, is complicated. Even though there is a right to bear arms, gun control laws in Arizona are in need of some work. There have been various shootings that have attributed to this need, adding the fact that carrying a concealed weapon is open to just about anyone only intensifies this need. “Arizona Fired Up Over Year-Old Weapons Law” is an article from 1995 in the Christian Science Monitor that discusses the stance that Tiffany Williams took regarding concealed weapons. Tiffany Williams is one of some 31,000 Arizonans who had decided that their safety hinged on toting guns, and thus had completed a 16-hour firearm-safety course required at that time to carry a concealed gun. Non-supporters of concealed weapons laws worried that as guns continue to show up in more hands, the greater the chance of violent incidents while supporters of concealed weapons laws argued that allowing people to carry firearms - openly or not - is a basic right, and gives people a greater sense of security. Tiffany...

Words: 2462 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Debate Paper

...Gun Control Team Debate Paper BCOM/275 May 7, 2013   Gun Control Gun control is a hot topic in the United States with primarily two sides of the conversation advocating for either more control of guns or more freedom of guns. The current laws on gun control or gun rights are disagreed upon by these individuals essentially based on the interpretation of such gun control laws. Firearms and the effects of gun rights has many cases that call for the strictest form of gun control. Some of these instances involve elementary school shootings, shootings at theaters, and even shootings on military installations by military members. The 2nd Amendment in the constitution has long been the proof of rights for citizens to bear arms to defend themselves from tyranny. Gun rights supporters say firearms should be unrestricted as it allows for self-defense in the case of another individual holding a weapon. Gun control supporters state that less regulation on gun control does not allow the government to provide its role of security because of it. The statistics for gun ownership in America are interesting to look at. For example, in the United States the average gun ownership per 100 people is 88.8, the highest of all other countries. Both sides of the argument have valid points, however it is important to dive deeper into each argument to analyze the logic and statistics involved in each argument. Major Gun Control Arguments Every day there are a countless instances that show that...

Words: 2155 - Pages: 9