Remembering Columbine 26 years later

26 years ago today, 13 innocent people were killed and the two perpetraters took their lives in the school. While they are gone, they will never be forgotten.

Cassie Bernall, Steven Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Daniel Mauser, Dan Rohrbaugh, Rachel Scott, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Kyle Velasquez, Matthew Ketcher, Lauren Townsend, and William Sanders

The unfortunate legacy of Columbine High School Massacre is still relevant in 2025. The echos of the choas the two gunman created still have a ripple effect on their families, the country, and copycats.

Seeking Safer Pathways aim is to help intervene before the attack is carried out. No matter how far in their plan they may be, we want to help them get off the pathway to violence and find a safer road. Mass attacks such as Columbine are not immediate. They are planned in detail, fantasized about, the school was scoped out, and many times there was leakage.

Regarding this case in particular, I always wonder what would have happened if one of the two boys were intervened on. The school work referencing guns and violence, the pipebombs in their room, or even someone noticing how much weight one of them had lost and made them go get help.

We want to educate the public, educators, and mental health professionals to notice signs that were there all along. We want to empower them to feel confident in navigating the difficult conversations that come along with at-risk and high-risk young adults and teenagers.