Columbine High School Massacre - April 20, 1999: The Massacre

April 20, 1999: The Massacre

On the morning of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had placed a small fire bomb in a field located approximately one mile away from Columbine High School. This bomb was set to explode at 11:14 a.m., and is thought to have been placed in this location as a diversion for emergency personnel. (The bomb did partially detonate, causing a small fire which was extinguished by the fire department.)

At 11:10 a.m. Harris and Klebold arrived at Columbine High School separately. Harris parked his vehicle in the Junior student parking lot and Klebold in the Senior student parking lot. From these locations, both youths possessed excellent views of the school cafeteria's side entrance, and each youth had initially intended to open fire upon students fleeing the school through the main entrances when bombs they intended to place inside the cafeteria detonated, with each shooter positioned to cover a main exit of the school and open fire on fleeing students.

Upon their arrival at Columbine, the duo met near Harris's car and armed two 20 pound (9 kg) propane bombs before entering the cafeteria a few minutes prior to the beginning of the A lunch shift. The youths placed the duffel bags containing the bombs—set to explode at approximately 11:17 a.m.—inside the cafeteria before returning to their vehicles to await the explosion of the bombs they had planted.

The act of planting the bombs inside the cafeteria was not noted by security staff at Columbine due to the fact that as the duo entered the cafeteria, the school security video tape was replaced by a custodian. Though the act of placing the bombs was not recorded on the school's security tape, the bags were clearly visible upon the fresh security tape.

As the two youths returned to their vehicles, Harris encountered Brooks Brown, a classmate with whom he had recently patched up a longstanding series of disagreements. Brown was surprised to see Harris exiting his vehicle with a gym bag, commenting that he had been absent from an important class test that morning, but Harris seemed unconcerned, commenting "It doesn't matter anymore." Harris then warned him: "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home." Brown, feeling uneasy, walked away. Several minutes later, students departing Columbine for their lunch break observed Brown heading down South Pierce Street away from the school. Meanwhile, Harris and Klebold armed themselves by their vehicles and waited for the bombs to explode.