25 years later, we remember Columbine

We mourn the 13 victims of the Columbine High School shooting today and sadly reflect on what has — and has not — changed in the past 25 years. For many, the shock of that day still reverberates, amplified by the hundreds of school shootings since then.

I heard the end of innocence echo in the voice of my then-9-year-old daughter that day as I picked her up from school after a day directing coverage of the tragedy for The Associated Press. She already knew what had happened. Everyone did.

“Will we have a shooting at our school?” came a small voice from the back seat of the car. It still breaks my heart that I could not honestly give her the words she craved.

Today, we share reflections on Columbine from three writers.

• Justin George, a Columbine graduate who went on to be a reporter for The Washington Post and is now back in Colorado, writes about what Dave Sanders, the lone teacher lost that day, meant to him.
• Columnist Diane Carman speaks with the father of one of the 12 kids killed at Columbine. He remains determined to bring about positive change. “Doing nothing won’t solve the problem,” he says.
• And columnist Mike Littwin writes that we mourn the dead and grieve the lack of will to honor them, offering thoughts and prayers instead.

Some will pay tribute to those we’ve lost by making this a day of service. Others will find their own way. However you choose to spend your hours today, please take care of yourselves and those you love.

Larry Ryckman

Editor

MORE ON COLUMBINE AT 25

• Five years ago, the staff of The Colorado Sun — many of whom were on the ground covering Columbine in 1999 — put together a series of stories we called “After Columbine” that are as relevant today as ever. Read the entire collection here. 
• One of those pieces in particular, by John Ingold, was a reflective look at how the media’s actions at the very beginning of the mass shooting epidemic helped define the entire era.
• Over at Colorado Community Media, the local journalists have launched a special report — “COLUMBINE AT 25: What changed. What didn’t.” — that includes reflections from survivors and reports on how the shooting’s legacy is embedded in the DNA of the state we know today.
• At The Denver Post, Jessica Seaman has an in-depth interview with a teacher who has remained at Columbine since she and her students survived the shooting.