Truth About Columbine

Hosted byIan Punnett

Truth About Columbine

About the show

Ian Punnett spoke with author and investigative journalist Dave Cullen about what really happened 10 years ago at Columbine High School. Cullen distinguished the Columbine tragedy from other so-called school shootings, noting that it was "basically a terrorist attack on a high school" meant to rival the carnage inflicted on Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh.

The teenaged perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, had intended to kill several hundred students by setting off propane-based bombs in the cafeteria and shooting any survivors who tried to flee the school, Cullen explained. The two had meticulously planned their mass murder a year in advance, but when the bombs failed to detonate the two went on a brief shooting rampage that claimed the lives of 12 students and a teacher.

According to Cullen, Harris and Klebold had no real agenda other than their own aggrandizement. They hadn't been bullied, weren't loners or members of the Trenchcoat Mafia, and didn't specifically target any group of students. In fact, Harris seemed to kill indiscriminately, shooting at everyone who moved, Cullen pointed out.

Cullen also discussed changes to police tactics following the Columbine killings, three early warning signs of juvenile psychopathy, as well as the myth surrounding victim Cassie Bernall, who reportedly was asked by the killers if she believed in God and was shot in the head when she answered, "Yes." Survivor Valeen Schnurr was actually the one who had been asked the question, Cullen said.

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