𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓.. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅. ⊹܀
The actual personalities of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold differed sharply from early media portrayals of bullied, goth outcasts, revealing instead a highly lethal pairing of a sadistic psychopath with a suicidally depressed teenager. After an extensive review of their personal journals, video logs, and police evidence, experts concluded that the two boys possessed starkly contrasting profiles.
Eric Harris: The Sadistic Psychopath
Clinical Assessment: Experts concluded that Harris fit the criteria for a classic psychopath. He possesses a total lack of empathy, a profound sense of superiority, and a narcissistic, grandiose ego.
Outward Presentation: He was socially capable, charismatic, and actively sought a conventional high school experience, such as going on dates and attending prom. He was perceived by many as a good guy who had merely outgrown a rebellious phase.Internal Reality: His private journals revealed deep-seated, homicidal rage directed outward at all of humanity. He possessed a messianic complex, frequently writing about "natural selection" and his desire to wipe out the human race.
Behavioral Traits: Harris was highly manipulative, easily fooling his parents, teachers, and a juvenile diversion program. He possessed a severe temper and was an active perpetrator of bullying and intimidation against other students, rather than a helpless victim.
Dylan Klebold: The Angry Depressive
Clinical Assessment: Mental health professionals and subsequent literature characterize Klebold as a vengeful, angry depressive. His internal struggle was profoundly suicidal.
Outward Presentation: To his peers, Klebold was seen as quiet, shy, painfully self-conscious, and socially awkward. He had a tight circle of friends and worked behind the scenes in the school's theater audio-visual department.
Internal Reality: His journals, which spanned years before the attack, were filled with self-loathing, intense loneliness, and a desperate fixation on finding love. However, his profound despair eventually curdled into a massive, hidden rage toward a world he felt rejected by.
Behavioral Traits: Unlike Harris, who explicitly planned a massive terrorist event to achieve infamy, Klebold viewed the upcoming massacre primarily as an avenue to finally end his own life. His severe clinical depression masked his capacity for horrific external violence.
The Fatal Intersection: The consensus among criminal profiles indicates that neither boy likely would have carried out the massacre alone. Harris needed a submissive accomplice to help him execute his grandiose scheme of destruction, while Klebold needed a cold, calculating force to push his suicidal ideation into catastrophic action. Together, their unique psychological vulnerabilities formed a toxic, reinforcing loop that resulted in the tragedy. Dylan influenced Eric to go through with the plan, titled NBK (Natural Born Killers, after their favorite movie of the same name).
MISSED WARNING SIGNS
The Van Arsdale Incident (1997): Harris threw a rock through a classmate's windshield. This led the victim’s parents to discover a website where Harris posted death threats, bomb-making progress, and rants about killing local residents. They filed multiple police reports.
The Depository Search Warrant (1998): Based on the website threats, a local sheriff's deputy drafted a search warrant for Harris’s home. Due to bureaucratic oversight, the warrant was never filed or executed.
The Van Break-In Arrest (January 1998): The boys were arrested for breaking into a locked van to steal electronic equipment. They were placed in a juvenile diversion program rather than facing jail time.Diversion Program Deception: Harris excelled in the program, writing manipulative apology letters that convinced counselors he was completely rehabilitated. He graduated early with glowing reviews.The Creative Writing Essays: Both boys submitted deeply disturbing school assignments. Harris wrote a vivid, first-person story about a personified bullet destroying a city. Klebold wrote a story about a man in a black trench coat brutally murdering "preps," which was so violent his teacher alerted his parents.
The "Hitmen for Hire" Video (December 1998): For a school video production project, they filmed themselves acting as trench-coat-wearing vigilantes who used fake weapons to shoot students in the hallways.
The Gun Acquisitions: Because they were minors, they had an older friend purchase three of their weapons at a local gun show. They also bought a shotgun from a coworker. None of these transactions triggered background checks or parental alerts.The Journal Revelations and TimelineApril 1997 (Klebold's First Entry): Klebold began journaling a full year before Harris. His earliest writings focused entirely on agonizing loneliness, suicidal thoughts, cutting himself, and a desperate desire to find a soulmate.
April 1998 (Harris's First Entry): Harris started his journal exactly one year prior to the attack. His very first entry explicitly stated his desire to hijack an airplane and crash it into New York City, demonstrating that mass destruction was his goal from the beginning.
The Shift to Shared Rage (Late 1997/Early 1998): Klebold's journal underwent a distinct shift after they began planning. He moved from purely suicidal thoughts to writing about an "NBK" (Natural Born Killers) mission, viewing Harris as a partner who could help him achieve an ending.
The "Good Book" and the "Logbook": Harris treated his journal like a military logistical record, detailing bomb recipes, ammunition counts, and precise structural diagrams of the school. Klebold’s journal remained an chaotic mix of emotional poetry, drawings of hearts, and sketches of guns.T
he Original Bomb Plot: The journals confirm the attack was never intended to be a school shooting. They planned a massive terrorist bombing. They placed propane bombs in the cafeteria to kill hundreds instantly, intending to shoot survivors fleeing the blast. The shooting only occurred because the bombs failed to detonate.
The Timeline of Execution: The entries prove the attack was meticulously planned for over a year. They intentionally selected April 20, 1999, to maximize casualties, originally aiming for a high-traffic lunch period.
Contrasting Demeanors: The basement tapes highlighted their distinct personalities. Harris appeared calm, cold, and calculated, methodically showing off weapons. Klebold was highly animated, pacing, yelling, and visibly fueled by volatile anger.
Apologies to Parents: Both boys used the videos to address their families. They expressed love and acknowledged that their parents were good people who had no idea what was coming, explicitly stating that their families should not be blamed.
The Final Tape: Recorded on the morning of April 20, just hours before the attack, the final video was brief. They said their final goodbyes, checked their gear one last time, and signed off with Klebold stating, "We gotta go. It's about time."
Permanent Sealing: Fearing the videos would serve as a "how-to" guide and inspire copycats, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office kept them strictly classified. In 2011, the authorities officially destroyed all physical copies of the tapes.
The Juvenile Diversion Files; The 2002 Unsealing: Following intense legal pressure from victims' families and the media, a judge ordered the release of the boys' confidential juvenile diversion records three years after the tragedy.
The Intake Assessments: The files revealed that counselors originally assessed both boys as low-risk, first-time offenders who were simply "bright" and "polite" kids who made a stupid mistake breaking into the van.
Harris's Psychopathic Deception: Harris's files showed a masterclass in manipulation. He wrote a highly polished, analytical essay about his own behavior, feigning deep remorse and claiming he learned a valuable lesson about respecting others' property.
Klebold's Psychological Cry for Help: Klebold's file contained an intake form where he explicitly checked boxes indicating he experienced regular thoughts of suicide, severe depression, and profound isolation. This critical data was largely overlooked by counselors.
WEAPONS: HiPoint995 Carbine, TEC-DC9, Stevens 311D, Savage 67H, the propane bombs (failed to detonate), pipe bombs, knives (not used).
OUTFITS
Black Trench Coats: Both boys wore full-length black duster-style trench coats at the start of the attack to conceal their long-barreled firearms. They dropped these coats early in the massacre.
Eric Harris's Outfit: Underneath his coat, Harris wore a white t-shirt with the words "Natural Selection" printed in black block letters across the chest. He wore black cargo pants, black combat boots, and a black fingerless glove on his right hand.
Dylan Klebold's Outfit: Underneath his coat, Klebold wore a black t-shirt with the word "Wrath" printed in red block letters across the chest. He wore black cargo pants, black combat boots, and a black fingerless glove on his left hand.
Backward Baseball Caps: Both boys wore baseball caps backward at the beginning of the assault. Harris wore a black KMFDM cap, and Klebold wore a black cap featuring a stitched logo of the Boston Red Sox.
Tactical Gear: They wore heavy-duty utility belts and load-bearing webbing to carry their knives, ammunition, and numerous homemade pipe bombs.
Historical and forensic analysis of the events at [Columbine High School] indicates that the attack was planned as a large-scale bombing rather than a shooting. Investigators concluded that the intent was to cause a catastrophic structural failure of the building, which would have significantly increased the scale of the tragedy had the devices functioned as intended. [1, 2]
## Analysis of the Attempted Bombing
Nature of the Devices: The primary devices consisted of large propane tanks modified with various incendiary materials and shrapnel designed to create a large-scale explosion and fire. [3]
Mechanism of Detonation: The perpetrators attempted to use improvised electronic timers to trigger the devices. Forensic reports noted that these mechanisms were poorly constructed, which ultimately prevented the planned detonation. [1, 4]
Intended Structural Impact: The devices were placed in the cafeteria near structural supports. Documentation suggests the goal was to compromise the integrity of the floor to impact the library located directly above. [5, 6]
Strategic Timing: The devices were timed to coincide with a period when the cafeteria reached its highest occupancy, indicating a deliberate attempt to maximize the number of people within the danger zone. [1]
## Factors Leading to Failure
The failure of the plot is attributed to several technical and environmental factors:
Technical Deficiencies: The improvised nature of the timers and wiring meant the devices lacked the reliability required for detonation. [4]
Intervention and Suppression: Although one device partially ignited a fire later in the incident, the school's automated fire suppression systems, specifically the sprinklers, were effective in extinguishing the flames before the main charges could be affected. [7]
Material Resistance: Attempts to manually detonate the tanks through other means during the incident were unsuccessful due to the durability of the containers.
Understanding these logistical failures has been a key part of the forensic study of the event, helping law enforcement and school safety experts develop better protocols for detecting and preventing similar multi-modal threats.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had contrasting physical appearances, which they heavily stylized using counter-culture fashion trends of the late 1990s.
Physical Attributes
Eric Harris: He was roughly 5 feet 8 inches tall with a lean, athletic build. He kept his brown hair clipped into a short, neat buzz cut or crew cut.
Dylan Klebold: He was significantly taller, standing around 6 feet 3 inches, with a noticeably lanky frame and prominent posture. He had long, wavy, dirty-blonde hair that he often wore parted down the middle or tucked behind his ears.
Eric was also known to drink whiskey, while Dylan drank vodka.
ERIC HARRIS AGE: 18 (April 9, 1981)
DYLAN KLEBOLD AGE: 17 (Sept. 11, 1981)
They also wanted to lose their virginity before the massacre but this failed.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had distinct communication styles, which are preserved in their journals, home videos, school essays, and audio tapes. While Harris spoke with structured, calculated aggression, Klebold spoke with erratic, emotionally charged language.
## Eric Harris: The Calculated Ideologue
Harris spoke and wrote with extreme precision, adopting a tone of intellectual superiority. He viewed himself as a detached observer or a higher entity judging humanity.
Philosophical Misanthropy: He frequently used absolute, grand language to express his hatred for society. A prominent example from his journal states: "Ich bin Gott [I am God]. Mankind isn't worth fighting for, only worth killing."
Contempt for Normalcy: He often spoke with intense disgust about ordinary human behavior and social conformity: "You people have no clues, you just run around doing what everyone else does, never thinking for yourselves."
The Language of Evolution: He heavily integrated pseudo-scientific concepts of natural selection into his speech, viewing his upcoming violence as a necessary cleansing tool: "Natural selection. Kill the weak, the stupid, the slow... natural selection. It's the best thing that could ever happen to the earth."
## Dylan Klebold: The Emotional Cynic
Klebold’s spoken and written words were deeply rooted in a sense of agonizing isolation, romanticism, and existential despair. His language was much more disorganized and filled with teenage angst compared to Harris's calculated manifestos.
Existential Alienation: Klebold frequently spoke about feeling like an alien trapped in a human world. In one entry, he wrote: "I am a god, a god of sadness. I don't fit in, I never have. I feel like an alien on this planet."
Desire for an Escape: His language was heavily focused on death as a release or a journey to a better dimension, often framing his violence as a path to a spiritual afterlife: "Soon I will be free. I will be in a better place, with no more pain, no more consciousness."
Flashes of Sudden Rage: While usually melancholic, his language would suddenly spike into extreme anger when discussing his peers: "They make fun of me, they look at me like I'm nothing. They will pay for making me feel like an outsider."
## Combined Interactions: The Tape Recordings
In their homemade video recordings, known as the "Basement Tapes," their speaking styles fed into one another. They used a casual, colloquial teenage vernacular of the late 1990s mixed with dark, militaristic slang.
Conversational Tone: They routinely apologized to their parents for the upcoming trauma, speaking casually as if discussing a weekend trip: "Hey mom, hey dad. I'm sorry about this. It's just something I have to do. You guys were great parents."
Racial and Social Slurs: Their spoken language in these videos was heavily peppered with homophobic, racial, and ableist slurs, used to diminish the classmates they targeted.
The Shooter Persona: When discussing the logistics of the attack, they adopted a movie-villain bravado, directly mimicking lines from films like Natural Born Killers. They would point weapons at the camera, laugh, and use phrases like: "Directors will be fighting over this story," and "We're going to kick start a revolution."
If you want to understand how their speech patterns affected those around them, I can outline how teachers reacted to their creative writing assignments or what their friends noted about their conversations leading up to the event.
SLURS ERIC AND DYLAN USED
Blacks: tar babies, porch monkies, niggers, jungle bunnies, Spear chucker,s moon crickets, jigaboos, koons, spades, apes, cotton pickers, tonglies, slaves
Asian: egg rollers, zipperheads, rice farmers, Charlie Gookes, stick choppers, chinks, star throwers, monkey
Jews: kikes, candle lighters, kindling furnace fuel, lab rats
Native Americans: story tellers, cliff dwellers, Teepee pitchers, buffalo chasers, hatchet throwers, fire builders, corn grinders, feather bearers
Whites: white, white trash, mother skunks, the "man", wigglets, hicks, preps, wife beaters, pigs, pasteys, honkies
Latinos: wet backs, boarder hoppers, brownies, taco benders, bearers, burrito wrapper, brick layers, tequila worms
Middle East: camel riders, sand niggers, sand eaters, desert roamers, terrorists, oil suckers, truck bomb drivers
ALONG WITH HOMOPHOBIC AND ABLEIST SLURS
*VICTIMS; INJURED AND DEAD
Victims Killed
Cassie René Bernall (17)
Steven Curnow (14)
Corey DePooter (17)
Kelly Ann Fleming (16)
Anne Marie Hochhalter (17 at the time of the shooting; passed away in 2025 due to complications from her injuries)
Matthew Kechter (16)
Daniel Mauser (15)
Daniel Lee Rohrbough (15)
William “Dave” Sanders (47) - Teacher
Rachel Joy Scott (17)
Isaiah Emon Shoels (18)
John Tomlin (16)
Lauren Townsend (18)
Kyle Albert Velasquez (16)
At least 24 individuals sustained varying degrees of physical wounds:
Treated at Swedish Medical Center: Valerie Schnurr, Anne Marie Hochhalter, Sean Graves, and Richard Castaldo.
Treated at Denver Health Medical Center: Lisa Kreutz, Mark Kintgen, and two other unnamed students.
Treated at Lutheran Medical Center: Brian Anderson and Nicole Nowlen.
* Additional Wounded & Treated: Jennifer Doyle, Stephen Austin Eubanks, Nicholas Foss, Makai Hall, Patrick Ireland, Joyce Jankowski, Mike Johnson, Adam Kyles, Stephanie Munson, Patricia Nielsen, Jeanna Park, Kasey Ruegsegger, Dan Steepleton, and Mark Taylor.
KINKS/FETISHES
Eric: BDSM, impact play, knifeplay, tits, lactophilia (sexual arousal derived from lactating breasts),
