Chapter 148 Section 13

440 graduates, wearing blue and gold graduation gowns and graduation caps, stepped onto the rostrum one by one to receive their graduation certificates from Principal Skenen. Only Lisa Cruz went up in a wheelchair.Another girl injured in the shooting, Janna Parker, was shot three times, hitting her right knee, left foot and right shoulder.Speaking on behalf of the graduates, she said: "At first, the doctors weren't even sure if I could walk. But today, as you can see, I came up to receive my diploma on my own two legs." The other 23 injured people, like Lisa and Janna, overcame death and pain with tenacious will, and finally recovered and were discharged from the hospital.

Eight months after the shooting, a task force composed of more than 80 detectives from the Jefferson Regional Police Department interviewed more than 4,500 witnesses and insiders, and collected tens of thousands of pieces of evidence from the scene and the homes of the two gunmen. released their official investigation report in January.According to the report, relevant physical evidence police seized at Harris and Colebold's home included Eric and Dylan's diary, as well as five videotapes.Before the "Doomsday Judgment", the two criminals made a total of 95 explosives.On the day of the shooting, the detonator bombs and other objects that had exploded in the campus included 6 in the student canteen, 6 in the corridors and some classrooms, 5 in the library, and 13 that were thrown outside the building and exploded.More explosives in their pristine state were scattered around the campus, including in the cars of the two shooters.Eric and Dillon also planted a gas tank bomb not far from the campus of Columbine Middle School, intending to divert the attention of the police and clamp down on their forces.But like the two heavy time bombs in the student cafeteria, they failed to detonate due to design reasons.

Many students of Columbine believe that Eric Harris is the mastermind of the two criminals, and Dylan Colebold is just a follower.Many witnesses interviewed by the police also said that if they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, it was difficult for them to believe that Dylan was also involved in the shooting.When the tragedy happened, the media interviewed at the scene asked around who the shooter was, and someone mentioned Dylan.Year 11 student Chris Hawke told a reporter who was writing Eric and Dylan's names in a notebook: "You better cross Dylan's name out. He's not that kind of guy, he's definitely not Could kill." Jacob Cary, 16, echoed: "He's a very nice, very nice guy, if you know him."

Before the release of the police report, the families of the dead and injured and all walks of life have begun to question and criticize the Jefferson Regional Police Department for its improper handling of the school shooting.Ivan Dade's father thought the police were taking too long. "More than 500 police officers rushed to the scene, but no one was injured, and the skin was not even scratched. Is this plausible? In a mass shooting like this, people think that there will always be a few police officers killed or maimed —No, not a single one! All the dead and wounded were children and teachers."

William Sandel's daughter, Angela, felt the same way.It took nearly three hours for the police special operations unit to rescue her father. "How many children could have been saved if they had acted faster? During this time, I have been thinking about this 'what if...'" In January 2000, Colorado Governor Bill Owens formed his own Columbine School Shooting Review Commission.In its final report, filed in May 2001, the commission acknowledged several failures in the handling of the campus tragedy by the Jefferson Regional Government and the Police Department, including ignoring signs that Eric and Dylan might have committed the crime before it happened.

At the same time, several lawsuits against the parents and families of the two murderers, as well as the Jefferson Regional Government and Police Department were filed in local courts.After contact and negotiation between the plaintiff and the defendant, most of these civil lawsuits aimed at claiming compensation were closed privately, and only the Jefferson Regional Government publicly compensated William Sander's family members with US$1.5 million. When the adults were busy writing various investigative reports, pursuing responsibilities, making claims and lawsuits, the students of Columbine, especially the friends of Eric and Dylan, as well as the countless Rick and Dylan's children were thinking.

After the Columbine school tragedy, the entertainment industry was the first to be attacked, because Eric and Dylan loved video games, pop music, movies and TV with violent content and dark humor.The media once asked people to translate the content of some "Rammstein" and KMFDM songs that Eric often hummed, and published them in newspapers.One of the lyrics goes something like this: "You're on campus / I'm loaded and ready to go." The students scoffed at the accusations, thinking they were biased.Because they know too many kids who play the same video games and almost never blush.They know too many kids who listen to similar pop music and never think about actually killing anyone.They know that too many kids watch a series about serial killers every episode, but are in no rush to imitate them in real life.

The students argued that entertainment products can only create an atmosphere and a mood at most, but cannot influence people's actions.After all, the reason why violent entertainment is popular is that they satisfy a certain need in society.In other words, our society itself is permeated with a culture of violence.How many incidents of violence, crimes have been seen and heard on the national and local news by children growing up?These real facts affect children far worse than the works of Hollywood and video game makers.If what's in the news isn't straightforward enough, how many kids have ever witnessed their parents swearing and punching?Not to mention, children have already experienced the principle of "the strong has the final say (Mightmakes right)" from their peers in the children's playground in the park and in the playground of the school, and they have personally experienced the "might makes right" in daily life. The answer to "Why" is simply "Because I said so (BecauseIsaidso)".

Columbine has many children, such as Brooke Brown, who grew up with Dylan Colebold.They know that Dylan, who is mild-tempered, has been bullied by bullies and hooligans since the first grade, and also punished indiscriminately by the school teachers.They also knew that with Dylan's intelligence and sensitivity, it was impossible for him not to realize the injustice of all this.It's just that, over the years, Dylan has chosen to tolerate rather than resist and explode.