Columbine victims | surviving Columbine 1, 2
Surviving the Columbine High School shooting
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The chaos and terror inside Columbine High School on the day of the shootings was horrifying; a person was lucky to escape it alive. But once outside the victims simply moved from one nightmare to another. For the Columbine survivors, the hours following the massacre were full of fear, emotional breakdown, pain and suffering. Parents, students, teachers, first responders... They were the ones who had to wait anxiously for news about the welfare of those still trapped inside. It was days before everyone knew for sure who was dead and who wasn't.

Many of the photos below have been scaled-down to speed load-time. The full-size original images are linked and are incredibly heart-breaking. Some photos are of shooting victims receiving medical treatment at triage stations and aren't for the faint of heart.

Columbine survivors Jessica Holliday and Diwata Perez
Jessica Holliday and other students flee Columbine Newsweek covers Columbine
This picture of Jessica Holliday (left) and Diwata Perez (right) would come to symbolize in media updates the suffering surrounding the tragic Columbine High School shootings. Photo by George Kochaniec.
This image of Jessica Holliday and other students of Columbine High fleeing the school was turned into a cover for Newsweek magazine later that same month.
Student Ashley Prinzi watches Columbine High
Student Ashley Prinzi tearfully watches the school.
Upset students who escaped Columbine during the shootings
Traumatized students support each other
Students outside wait, pray and cry
When the assault began, people who escaped Columbine during the shooting ran in any direction they felt was safe. Some chose better than others. Some ran and kept running: Several students interviewed later by investigators reported running home or to the houses of friends. Some were picked up in cars by people who knew them. Others got into cars with strangers. Most who left the scene called 911 from their safe locations. Emergency lines were tied up for hours.

People who escaped the horror watched the news with family members and friends, trying to stay informed about the event in progress. Several students, unsure where to go, hid in the surrounding neighborhood in alleys and behind houses, alone and in groups. Many didn't come out for several hours, afraid of being shot.

Escape down Pierce Ave
Teens escape down Pierce Ave
Columbine students return
Coming back from hiding in an alley behind the school.
More students return to Columbine High
More students who fled the school were rounded up and brought back from around the neighborhood. They were taken to Leawood Elementary or the Littleton Public Library to be picked up by anxious parents.

Students waiting outside Columbine
 Students cheer as others are freed from the school
 Students embrace one another
 Columbine students shed tears of joy
Teens wait anxiously outside of Columbine, fearing for those still inside. Tears of fear turn to ones of joy as friends are reunited.

Students and teachers escape from Columbine High School Teachers and students flee Columbine
Students and teachers freed from the staff
lounge & cafeteria restrooms run from Columbine.
Danny Rohrbough's body at the base of the stairs
Danny Rohrbough's body can be seen at the base of the stairs that lead to Columbine High School's west entrance.

Columbine students on buses
 Columbine students on buses
 Columbine students on buses
Students loaded onto buses watch Columbine, waiting to be taken to Leawood Elementary where their families await their safe return.
Columbine students on buses
 Columbine students on buses
 Columbine students on buses

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