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On April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris walked into Columbine High School, carrying weapons and homemade bombs, and began slaughtering their classmates. They killed 12 of their fellow students and a teacher, and wounded 24 more people before turning the guns on themselves.
The Columbine massacre not only shocked the community of Littleton, Colorado, but stunned the nation and forever changed how school administrations and law enforcement handle school shootings.
Sue Klebold, Dylan Klebold's mother, believed that like many parents, she was sure she would have known if something were wrong with her son -- but all that changed after the tragedy.
“Before Columbine happened, I would have been one of those parents,” Klebold told Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview for a special edition of "20/20." “I think we like to believe that our love and our understanding is protective, and that ‘if anything were wrong with my kids, I would know,’ but I didn’t know, and I wasn’t able to stop him from hurting other people. I wasn’t able to stop his hurting himself and it’s very hard to live with that.”
On April 20, 1999, Klebold was working at an office where she helped disabled college students when she received a call from her husband Tom, a geophysicist who worked from home. He had called to say there was an emergency.
“His voice sounded horrible, jagged and breathless… ‘something terrible is going on at the school,’” Klebold said.
Her husband told her two killers wearing trench coats were shooting students at Columbine High School, and that one of Dylan’s friends had called because he was worried that Dylan might be involved.
"You always think somebody's making a mistake," Klebold said. “My first thought was Dylan may be in danger, you know, ‘who are these people that are hurting people?’”
She raced home, and after she got there, she learned her son was believed to be one of the shooters.
Columbine Killer's Mother Reflects on Her Son, What She Missed
The only thing worse than your child dying at the hands of someone else is your child killing. I think that both scenarios are horrific but coming to grips with your child as a killer is an added dimension.
The Columbine massacre not only shocked the community of Littleton, Colorado, but stunned the nation and forever changed how school administrations and law enforcement handle school shootings.
Sue Klebold, Dylan Klebold's mother, believed that like many parents, she was sure she would have known if something were wrong with her son -- but all that changed after the tragedy.
“Before Columbine happened, I would have been one of those parents,” Klebold told Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview for a special edition of "20/20." “I think we like to believe that our love and our understanding is protective, and that ‘if anything were wrong with my kids, I would know,’ but I didn’t know, and I wasn’t able to stop him from hurting other people. I wasn’t able to stop his hurting himself and it’s very hard to live with that.”
On April 20, 1999, Klebold was working at an office where she helped disabled college students when she received a call from her husband Tom, a geophysicist who worked from home. He had called to say there was an emergency.
“His voice sounded horrible, jagged and breathless… ‘something terrible is going on at the school,’” Klebold said.
Her husband told her two killers wearing trench coats were shooting students at Columbine High School, and that one of Dylan’s friends had called because he was worried that Dylan might be involved.
"You always think somebody's making a mistake," Klebold said. “My first thought was Dylan may be in danger, you know, ‘who are these people that are hurting people?’”
She raced home, and after she got there, she learned her son was believed to be one of the shooters.
Columbine Killer's Mother Reflects on Her Son, What She Missed
The only thing worse than your child dying at the hands of someone else is your child killing. I think that both scenarios are horrific but coming to grips with your child as a killer is an added dimension.
