Columbine High School shooting archive - On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the lives of 13 victims and their own lives


[ est. 4 21 1999 ]
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Columbine High School damage photos
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The following pictures are of Columbine High after the shooters were dead, law enforcement had rescued the surviving students, and removed the bodies of those who didn't survive. Some of these pictures came directly off the Fire Department video footage of the crime scene; others are forensics photos. Some images might be disturbing to sensitive viewers due to their very nature. Scroll down at your own risk.

You can also view the remodeling of the school, the outside during the shootings, the aftermath, as well as images from the surveillance cameras in the cafeteria.

Columbine High's west student entrance
 
Damage to Columbine's west entrance
 
Columbine's west entrance, destroyed by gunfire
West student entrance where the killers entered the school. The windows were shot out by Eric when he fired on substitute Patti Nielson and student Brian Anderson. The west entry was a double set of doors with a short hall between the two sets of doors. This is a shot inside the west entrance, facing the doors that lead to the parking lot, the other side of the doors in the photo on the left.

Interior west entry hall
The west entry hallspace, facing the inside doors.
Inside Columbine High School west entrance
Inside Columbine's hall, facing the west entrance's inside doors.
Columbine's west entry
Another shot of the west entry from the hall. You can see where tiles from the ceiling were shot out.

Columbine High School east entry, badly damaged by bullets
East entry down the hall from the west entry. You can see chunks of the walls missing here clearly, looking more like axe-whacks than the result of the bullets that actually did the damage.
West entry where Rachel Scott and Dan Rohrbough died
Outside of the west entry. This is the entrance just above the grassy knoll where Rachel Scott died. Danny Rohrbough died at the foot of the stairs that this sidewalk turns into further down the hill.
Students and faculty escape from Columbine's teacher's lounge
Downhill from Columbine's west entry. At the top of the photo you can see broken glass from the shot-up doors. At the bottom of the photo on the far right is the broken window of the teacher's lounge where SWAT released students and teachers from the school. The white things heaped on the ground are window blinds. Dan Rohrbough's body can be seen at the base of the stairs on the sidewalk.
Columbine cafeteria interior
Inside Columbine High School's cafeteria
View of the damages to Columbine's cafeteria
Inside the cafeteria. The tented yellow cards on the tables are police evidence markers.

Propane bomb found in the cafeteria
One of the propane bombs found in the wrecked cafeteria, pulled out of the kitchen by officials. In the background you can see the blue duffle bag that contained the other bomb, the one that partially detonated and took out the front windows. (See next picture.)
Damage to cafeteria from one partially detonated propane bomb
Chairs melted by the partial detonation of the propane bomb left in the cafeteria. Eric and Dylan tried several times to get it to blow, including shooting at it. It finally half-blew when Dylan threw something at it (caught on cafe surveillance but -what- was thrown couldn't be made out), taking out the front windows. If it had fully detonated, it most likely would've dropped the library down on the cafeteria.
Propane bomb in a duffel bag
The partially-detonated propane bomb in a duffel bag left behind by the shooters blackened the floor and set off the overhead sprinklers.
Outside the damaged Columbine cafeteria
Spectators view the outside of the boarded-up cafeteria.

Bullet hole inside Columbine
Bullet holes scar a door inside the school.
Stripped stairs that lead to Columbine's 2nd floor
The stairs up to the 2nd floor have been stripped of carpet to remove the bloodstains in the above picture.
Hall over Columbine's cafeteria
A bullethole dents this window pane in the hall above the cafeteria.
Columbine High bathroom
One of the bathrooms where students hid from the shooters.
Schoolwork left behind when the shooters opened fire
A desk in a classroom where possessions sit 2 days on a desk as they were when the shots rang out.
  Library entrance Columbine library entrance
The shot-up entrance of the library, marked with a ribbon left there by mourners. A new wall of lockers now stands where these doors used to be and a two-story atrium exists where the library once was.



These are the tables in the library where the majority of the students were killed. The scene is untouched save to remove the bodies and mark evidence; the rest of the mess was created by the spray of bullets. In the center picture, a back sits centermost. The other dark splotches on the floor are blood puddles. Some of the yellow cards that are positioned about the room bore the names of the students who died where they sit - you can cleary see Corey's card.

These images were taken from the video the Littleton Fire Department made. I saw it though I didn't capture these images myself. These pictures can't even begin to capture the appalling, gruesome mess. Blood so thick on the carpet it stood in slick, brown puddles - looked more like spilt housepaint as the blood wasn't bright, having set overnight. The vertical blinds in the window that had been shot through looked like a handful of crumpled straw wrappers thrown haphazardly against the wall. I'm a strong-stomached person and the video creeped me out. I can't imagine what it must've been like for the survivors to have to look at that scene fresh.

The people who were in the school when the shootings occurred were allowed to return later with their immediate family members, to retrieve their belongings. They were let in after the bodies were removed but before the mess was cleaned up so they saw pretty much what you see above, only more so. One of the visitors wrote a detailed description of what they saw when they were walking around the halls and library, in graphic and irreverant detail. Due to its highly controversial nature, I don't have it displayed on this website but you can find a copy on this site's CD-ROM.

Damages to Columbine High School library
Columbine's library as seen on the fire department training tape.
Columbine library after the shootings
Table where Eric and Dylan tried to set off a molotov cocktail. The sprinklers put out the small fire.
Columbine's destroyed computer lab
A closer look at the computer lab in the library, torn to pieces by gunfire.
Police investigate the media room
Police investigate the multi-media room just off the library, where several staff members hid.
School television, destroyed by gunfire
A television in the library, its screen shot by Dylan.
Dylan Klebold's car bomb detonated late
A car bomb set in Dylan's car detonated at 11PM, 4-20-1999.
Columbine students backpacks
Backpacks collected from around the school where kids dropped them in their panicked flight have been set on the stage after forensics has finished with them. Students couldn't pick up their things for over 48 hours.