The Columbine High School Massacre
The killers’ journals are chilling
The 1999 Columbine High School Massacre is one of the most infamous crimes in American history. At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting the country had ever seen, leading to extensive media coverage and nationwide discussions on firearms, school culture, and mental health.
Whilst it’s hard to comprehend why anyone would commit such a crime, we know plenty about the killers’ motives due to the journals they left behind.
The Journals
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were close friends, but their desire to kill didn’t come from the same place.
Psychologists who examined Eric’s journal described the eighteen-year-old as an egotistical psychopath. He saw himself as a god-like figure, someone who was superior to the mediocre, dispensable majority.
As well as the racist and homophobic remarks, Eric’s words reveal his obsession with death, natural selection, and the futility of humanity.
‘… the human race isn’t worth fighting for, only worth killing. Give the Earth back to the animals, they deserve it infinitely more than we do.’
His first journal entry was written a year before the shooting, and even at this early stage, Eric was full of…
