Knowra Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were American students who killed 13 people and injured 24 others during the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, then died by suicide.
Columbine High School massacre : A 1999 attack at Columbine High School in Colorado in which two students killed 13 people and injured 24. This is the attack Harris and Klebold planned and carried out.
School shooting : A shooting in which one or more people use firearms at a school. The Columbine attack became one of the most influential cases in this broader category.
Nail bomb : An explosive device designed to scatter nails or similar fragments when it detonates. Harris and Klebold planted explosive devices intended to inflict mass casualties.
Columbine shooting conspiracy theories : Unsupported claims that official accounts of the Columbine attack conceal its true perpetrators or causes. These claims conflict with the extensive evidence identifying Harris and Klebold as the attackers.
Columbine High School : A public high school in Littleton, Colorado, opened in 1973. Harris and Klebold attended this school and attacked it on April 20, 1999.
Columbine effect : The lasting influence of the Columbine massacre on school security, media coverage, and later attackers. The attack’s legacy is often discussed through this term.
Improvised explosive device : An explosive weapon assembled from nonstandard components or adapted materials. The bombs they built were improvised devices, though most failed to detonate.
School bullying : Repeated aggressive behavior involving a real or perceived power imbalance, often among students. Bullying was widely offered as a simple explanation, but evidence does not establish it as the attack’s sole cause.
The Basement Tapes : A set of videotapes made by Harris and Klebold before the attack, largely recorded in a basement. The recordings document their plans, motives, and awareness of the coming attack.
Active shooter protocol : Procedures for responding to an attacker who is actively using or threatening to use deadly force. Columbine exposed limits in police response and influenced later emergency procedures.
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