Preview

Compare and Contrast Columbine and Virginia Tech

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1375 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare and Contrast Columbine and Virginia Tech
The Columbine Shooting and Virginia Tech. shooting were called similar in various ways. They were both declared a national tragedy 13 people killed total in the Columbine and 33 in the Virginia Tech shooting. Though the two incidents were similarly done by psychopaths, there were differences in the details of both shootings, the reactions of society, and upcoming psychological development. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were responsible for the 13 deaths during the Columbine Shooting on April 20, 1999. The main difference between Harris and Klebolds plan and Cho’s attacks were Harris and Klebold left documentation of their plans. They made many blogs on how to make home-made explosives, made videos documenting explosives, ammunition, and weapons that they had obtained illegally. They kept journals of their progress and who they wanted to get revenge on. They even narrowed down the dates of when they planned the shooting to April 19th, the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and April 20th, the 110th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday. They killed 13 people plus themselves over a one hour time period. This first red flag went up when they got caught stealing computer equipment and during the court hearing the judge decided that both boys needed psychiatric help. Harris was later put on an anit-depressant call Zoloft. Researchers now say this medication might have caused the different thoughts of suicide and the rage he felt inside. Some psychologists also say after being arrested it pushed them over the edge.
At 11:10am on April 20, 1999 Klebold and Harris arrived at the school. Nearly five minutes later they carried two 20-pound propane bombs into the cafeteria and placed then near the tables, the bombs were set to explode but never did. At 11:19am a witness heard Eric yell, “GO,GO,GO!” At that time they began heading toward the school and started shooting. By noon, SAWT was stationed outside the school and ambulances began taking wounded students to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The author formats his research into two sections: the first section is the Virginia Tech and then the Columbine shooting. The main focus will be about the Columbine massacre that occurred in 1999. Chen gives a brief summary of the case but focuses more of the psychological field as to why this incident happened. Looking into his research, Chen points out a lot of mental illness attribution, causal attributions, racial exemplars and interracial evaluations. The usefulness of his work is well played including a mass of data/statistics to back up his research. With Virginia Tech, he compares to Columbine on how the suspects have mental issues that caused them commit multiple homicides. “Mental illness would be perceived as an external attribution…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eric Harris was a psychopath; this fact allowed him to commit a terrible crime without feeling empathy or remorse for his victims. However, on the outside he was anything but antisocial (or criminal). Eric smoke, drank, dated—all within a close circle of friends. Yet, he was excellent at manipulation. His lies were so finely tuned that even his ex-military father suspected nothing. Eric received a slew of A’s from his teachers; every single one of them considered him a “good kid”. No one ever suspected that anything as devastating or horrifying could erupt from such a well-rounded kid from a nice family. This is why Dave Cullen’s description of Dylan Klebold who “tried extremely hard to emulate Eric” was not mistaken. Although Dylan was considerably smarter…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author of The Columbine Legacy Rampage Shootings as Political Acts has stated numerous purposes within this article. The first purpose of it was to explain about the events of Columbine and attempt to show the reader how this has created a large impact resulting in more wide spread school shootings taking place. With this the author tries to convey to the reader particular characteristics that differentiate a school rampage shooting from a wide range of other school related incidents where violence was a factor. The author also attempts to show the reader types of school related shootings that have taken place before Columbine happened and even specific events which would have led to a shooting but were uncovered before it escalated that…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the worst domestic terrorist attacks in United States history was the Oklahoma City bombing. The attack occurred on April 19, 1995 and the two assailants were Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The bombing killed 168 people and wounded 680 others, the blast from the bomb destroyed 324 buildings, causing an estimated $652 million dollars’ worth of damage, but the main building of the attack was the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The two attackers were captured within an hour and half after the attack for driving without a license plate and were arrested for being in possession of illegal weapons. Forensic evidence was able to swiftly and easily link these two to the bombing. McVeigh who was Gulf War veteran, detonated the truck and parked it in front of the building. Nichols, the accomplice had assisted in bomb preparation. McVeigh’s hatred for the government was fueled by the deadly fire that…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “It is a very tragic day for us in virginia. My reaction was just shock. My first thought was just how tragic this was for the university” - Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. It was tragic day for the friends and families of the victims. Virginia tech massacre is a tragic event that in history and has impacted many people.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cullen vividly describes the events of the April 20th, 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two boys, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went into the school that day with plans to set bombs off in the cafeteria, and wait outside shooting everyone that tried to run. Their plans fell through when the bombs didn’t go off, so they ran inside and went on a shooting spree which resulted in the death of twelve students, one teacher, and many more injured. The novel describes events prior to the attack, as well as various friends of Eric and Dylan. Cullen analyzes the two, their behavior, and information he acquired from people who knew them. He tells the story of various different people inside the building, those killed, and some who survived. Cullen also talks of the people affected by the attack. The various families of the dead, and the lawsuits involved, the survivor’s lives, and what they have done are all a part of Columbine. Dave Cullen is sure to include every detail and analyze all the information in this…

    • 1530 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the “Zero Hour Columbine” video, the behaviors of Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold are driven or understood through three different perspectives, Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and the Cognitive perspective. Each perspective has terms that help explain the reaction and actions of the two murderous teens. These perspectives allow us to get into the minds of these two boys to try and understand them, so this event doesn’t happen again.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were prominent warning signs even according to the shooter’s poetry professor Nikki Giovanni that caused her and her students fear to be around Cho (Roberts). When the first shooting occured campus authoritys gave no more thought into it other than it being a small domestic incident, leaving them to believe the gunman had left campus. A student Brant Martel felt that, “they were a little slow on their response.” (Questions…). Even a day after the shooting people like Kenneth Trump of National School and Safety Services acknowledge that there needed to be a plan implimented to deal with crisis situations like this one (Questions…). Students were disappointed of the lack of attention to the first shooting and the emails that were sent 2 hours later during the rest of the shootings (NBC). Since the shootings that happened in 2007, about two thirds of four year colleges with 2500 students have been supplied with dedicated police officers and security guards according to the Departmant of Justice (Rich). The Virginia Tech campus shootings changed the landscape of security on school campuses by forcing campuses to implement active shooter drills. text alerts for students,…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Historical ContextOn April 20th, 1999 two young men, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began an attack on their own high school and on their fellow peers inside. They entered Columbine high school armed with various means of firepower and were prepared…

    • 4149 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many of the officers who first responded to the shooting at Columbine, were not properly trained for what they encountered. Two of the officers traded fire with Eric and Dylan. They eventually stopped because they knew they should wait for a specially trained team. This was shown not to be a smart decision, because by the time the trained team got into the building, Eric and Dylan killed ten of the thirteen victims. After the team entered the building, they took several hours going from room to room. In this time Eric and Dylan had turned their guns on themselves in the library (Columbine Tragedy 1). The killer’s motivation was key into the investigation of Columbine. Many school shootings involve a person targeting individuals who have bullied them or they did not like. Eric and Dylan wanted something much more than that. They wanted the entire nation to know what they did. The students and teachers were just “collateral damage,” as Timothy McVeigh described. They knew that if their plan was successful they would would be nationally known. “The killers, in fact, laughed at petty school shooters. They bragged about dwarfing the carnage of the Oklahoma City bombing and originally scheduled their bloody performance for its anniversary” (“The Depressive” 1). Their plan was made easier because of their gun supplier. Mark Manes supplied Eric and Dylan with the guns they used. He was arrested in May of 1999, a month after the shooting (Hasday 18). The story was already being viewed on local television within a half hour of the shooting. In the beginning, everything was a speculation about what happened. There were countless mix-ups in what really happened. Eric and Dylan had been disposing of layers of clothing. This made them look different, which caused witnesses to believe there were multiple killers. The news coverage became viewed by millions. The Columbine shooting became…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The lives of many were to change on the day of April 20th, 1999, at Columbine High School. With the death of twelve students and one teacher, it was to be the deadliest mass murder committed on an American high school campus. The massacre, committed by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, sparked debate over gun control laws; whether the availability of guns across the United States, especially to young people such as these, was socially acceptable. This event is what sparked Moore to create his documentary, ‘Bowling for Columbine’.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Zoloft Massacre Analysis

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Harris, the main plotter of the massacre, was found to be on therapeutic levels of Zoloft, a well known anti-depressant, as well as Luvox, a medicine used to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But. it is a well know, common fact that antipsychotics such as these pills will not work without approaching professional help. Sue Klebold, mother of Dylan, one of the shooters, speaks on the importance of the initial signs of mental illness. “We teach our kids the importance of good dental care, proper nutrition, and financial responsibility. How many of us teach our children to monitor their own brain health, or know how to do it ourselves?” (Klebold, 113) But, victim’s families and townspeople have raised multiple questions since, contemplating the true motive behind April 20th, 2000 and the lives that were…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Virginia Tech massacre was an absolute disaster and could have been avoided if people actually did their jobs and what they were supposed to do leading up to and before the shootings began. Cho was spiraling well before the events and had he been reported to the police he never would have gotten his hands on two guns and all that ammunition. The Virginia Tech staff also dropped the ball because once they found the chained doors with the note that said there was a bomb, the person went up to the third floor to speak to a supervisor instead of just calling the police like they were supposed to. One if I saw chained doors and a note saying don’t leave or a bomb will go off I would immediately call the police. Then I would hop out of a window.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On December 14, 2012 the most horrific school shooting happened. A young man took the lives of innocent children and adults. No one knew what was ahead of them that Friday morning as they awoke and started their daily routines. Adam Lanza took the lives of 26 people. There are clear statements as to why this happened. The poor security, School Shooter video game, mental illness, and pedophilia are all causes to why this could have happened.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On April 20, 1999, two teenagers went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. They ended up killing thirteen people and wounding more than twenty others before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. This shooting caused many debates over gun control…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays