Finding out what drove the duo into performing such an event.
For a while, many people had many different explanations as to why these two teens decided to commit such a hateful crime (Cullen). Some people said that the murderers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were seeking revenged to the peers that made their high school experience terrible (Kohn). Others believe that But we all know that on April 20, 1999, Columbine High School student's fate was set (Cullen). They had no intentions of shooting specific people. But why did they decide to shoot in mass amounts? They bother were described to be very mentally disturbed. Peter Langman, psychologist and author of Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters wrote in his book about how they weren't “ordinary” kids. “These are not ordinary kids who were bullied into retaliation. These are not ordinary kids who played too many video games. These are not ordinary kids who just wanted to be famous. These are simply not ordinary kids. These are kids with serious psychological problems" (The Depressive...). Even though Harris and Klebold were both diagnosed with having serious psychological problems, they were different in how they approached different situations. Klebold was the more tempered and aggravated one, whereas Harris was someone more people liked and respected for the way he “acted”. Dave Cullen, author of article The Depressive and the Psychopath shares the differences between both Harris and Klebold. “Klebold is easier to comprehend, a more familiar type. He was hotheaded, but depressive and suicidal. He blamed himself for his problems. Harris is the challenge. He was sweet-faced and well-spoken. Adults, and even some other kids, described him as ‘nice.’ But Harris was cold, calculating, and homicidal. ‘Klebold was hurting inside while Harris wanted to hurt people,’...Harris was not merely a troubled kid, the psychiatrists say, he was a psychopath.” (The Depressive...). More differences were seen by the students, including an observation seen by one of their classmates as stated by Lynn Bartels and Carla Crowder, authors of Fatal Friendships. “Eric aced his classes. Dylan was an unrepentant slacker. Eric lied about his age to woo an older woman he met at the mall. Dylan shyly waited for the right girl. Eric got into flour fights at the pizza joint where they worked. Dylan watched. ‘They weren't joined at the hip by any means,’ said Nate Dykeman, the classmate who probably knew them best.” (Fatal Friendships). So it was obvious that Harris and Klebold were very different in many different ways. But what was similar between these friends was their desire to perform a big school shooting. On January 30, 1998, Harris and Klebold broke into a locked van and stole electronics from it. They were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and theft. When they pleded guilty, the judge told them to take part in a youth diversion program, probation for first time non-violent offenders. The counselors there noticed Harris had a hard time holding in his temper and ordered him to take anger managment classes. They seemed to help his temper (Fatal Friendships).