Editing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (section)

==Background==

===Personalities===
Both Harris and Klebold worked together as cooks at a [[Blackjack Pizza]], a mile south from Columbine High School. Harris was eventually promoted to shift leader.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |title=Portrait of two teens reveals a lot of gray |journal=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=May 3, 1999 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611004225/https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0503/p3s1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He and his group of friends were interested in computers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-columbine-shooters/ |title=The Columbine Shooters |website=[[CBS News]] |date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=November 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111201929/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-columbine-shooters/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and were enrolled in a bowling class.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |title=A boy with many sides |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607002355/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0502b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some described Harris as charismatic, and others described him as nice and likable.<ref name=psych>{{cite web |url=https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/19990503/news/305039989 |title=Psychologists say Harris, Klebold became deadly mix |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107113922/https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/19990503/news/305039989 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Antisocial>{{Cite news|first1=Joel|last1=Achenbach|first2=Dale|last2=Russakoff|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm|title=Teen Shooter's Life Paints Antisocial Portrait|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 29, 1999|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026082703/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Harris also often bragged about his ability to deceive others, once stating in a tape that he could make anyone believe anything.<ref name=basement>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf |title=Transcript of the Columbine "Basement Tapes" |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715180540/https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |url-status=live |first=Peter |last=Langman |website=schoolshooters.info |date=29 July 2014}}</ref> By his [[Junior (education year)|junior year]], Harris was also known to be quick to anger, and threatened people with bombs.<ref name=psych/><ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Kohn|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbine-were-there-warning-signs/|title=Columbine: Were There Warning Signs?|website=[[CBS News]]|date=April 17, 1999|access-date=July 6, 2020|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706175129/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbine-were-there-warning-signs/|url-status=live}}</ref> Classmates also related that Harris was fascinated by war, and wrote out violent fantasies about killing people he did not like.<ref name=Antisocial/>

Klebold was described by his peers and adults as painfully shy. Klebold often was fidgety whenever someone new talked to him, rarely opening up to people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |title=Dave Cullen on the Columbine killer Dylan Klebold |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=April 24, 2009 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019031751/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |url-status=live }}</ref> Klebold was also exceptionally nervous in front of women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |title=The reluctant killer &#124; Columbine |work=The Guardian |date= April 24, 2009|accessdate=2022-02-19 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019031751/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine |url-status=live }}</ref> In the last year of his life, many noted a change in Klebold's behavior. Unlike before, Klebold became short-tempered, often prone to sudden outbursts of anger.<ref name="acolumbinesite.com"/>

===Friendship===
Much of the information on Harris and Klebold's friendship is unknown, on their interactions and conversations, aside from the Basement Tapes, of which only transcripts have been released, aside from a short audio clip recorded surreptitiously by a victim's father. The pair claimed they were going to make copies of the tapes to send to news stations, but never did so.<ref name=basement /> Harris and Klebold met at Ken Caryl Middle School during their seventh grade year. Over time, they became increasingly close, hanging out by often going out bowling, carpooling and playing the video game ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' over a private server connected to their personal computers. By their junior year of high school, the boys were described as inseparable. Chad Laughlin, a close friend of Harris and Klebold, said that they always sat alone together at lunch and often kept to themselves.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485 |title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold |first=Alan |last=Prendergast |date=April 17, 2009 |website=Westword|access-date=June 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621134956/https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485|archive-date=June 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

A rumor eventually started that Harris and Klebold were [[homosexual|gay]] and romantically involved, due to the time the pair spent together. It is unknown if they were aware of this rumor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hari |first1=Johann |title=The cult of Eric and Dylan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-cult-of-eric-and-dylan-73697.html |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=January 15, 2004 |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530054106/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-cult-of-eric-and-dylan-73697.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Judy Brown believed Harris was more emotionally dependent on Klebold, who was more liked by the broader student population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4K8YE1ZatU |title=Zero Hour – Massacre at Columbine High |last=XxSlenderMotoxX |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |via=YouTube|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613063423/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4K8YE1ZatU|archive-date=June 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In his journals, however, Klebold wrote that he felt that he was not accepted or loved by anyone. Due to these feelings, Klebold possibly sought validation from Harris. [[Sue Klebold|Klebold's mother]] believes Harris's rage, intermingled with Klebold's self-destructive personality, caused the boys to feed off of each other and enter in what eventually became an unhealthy friendship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKLr1yPupI |title=Sue Klebold's Interview: After Words With Sue Klebold – BOOK TV |last=Vodka'sHypnosis |date=April 24, 2016 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |via=YouTube|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208215953/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKLr1yPupI|archive-date=December 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Columbine High School===
At Columbine High School, Harris and Klebold were active in school play productions, operated video productions and became computer assistants, maintaining the school's computer server.<ref name="Suspects"/> According to early accounts of the shooting, they were very unpopular students and targets of [[School bullying|bullying]]. While sources do support accounts of bullying specifically directed toward Harris and Klebold,<ref name=DenverWestword1>{{cite news |author=Prendergast, Alan |date=July 13, 2000 |url=http://www.westword.com/2000-07-13/news/the-missing-motive/ |title=The Missing Motive |newspaper=[[Denver Westword News]]|access-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728033506/http://www.westword.com/2000-07-13/news/the-missing-motive/|archive-date=July 28, 2012|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=brooksbrown>{{cite book |first1=Brooks|last1=Brown |first2=Rob|last2=Merritt |title=No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine |url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Lantern Books]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-59056-031-0 |access-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531090118/https://archive.org/details/pdfy-pC_WzWbOzxls5ms1 |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=DenverWestword2>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/04/forgiving_my_friend_dylan_kleb.php |title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold |newspaper=Denver Westword Post |first=Alan|last=Prendergast|date=April 17, 2009|access-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420030056/http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/04/forgiving_my_friend_dylan_kleb.php|archive-date=April 20, 2009|url-status=live }}</ref> accounts of them being outcasts have been reported to be false, since both of them had a close knit group of friends.<ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Brooks|author-link=David Brooks (journalist)|date=April 24, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/the-columbine-killers.html|title=The Columbine Killers|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204104540/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/the-columbine-killers.html |archive-date=February 4, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=USAToday>{{cite news |last=Toppo |first=Greg |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm |title=10 years later, the real story behind Columbine |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=April 14, 2009 |access-date=April 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415152154/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm |archive-date=April 15, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harris and Klebold were initially reported to be members of a [[clique]] that was called the "Trenchcoat Mafia", despite later confirmation that the pair had no connection to the group and furthermore did not appear in the group's photo in Columbine High's 1998 [[yearbook]].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|first=Jodi|last=Wilgoren|date=April 25, 1999|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html|title=Terror in Littleton: the Group; Society of Outcasts Began With a $99 Black Coat|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626024728/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |archive-date=June 26, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/325054.stm|title=Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?|website=[[BBC News]]|date=April 21, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902001210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/325054.stm |archive-date=September 2, 2013 }}</ref> Harris's father erroneously stated that his son was "a member of what they call the Trenchcoat Mafia" in a {{nowrap|[[9-1-1]]}} call he made on the day of the shooting.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Kass |title=Columbine: A True Crime Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHQ7OgAACAAJ |publisher=Ghost Road Publishing Group |location=Denver, Colorado|date=2009 |isbn=978-0-9816525-6-6 |access-date=September 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105034627/http://books.google.com/books?id=eHQ7OgAACAAJ |archive-date=January 5, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Klebold attended the high school [[prom]] three days before the shootings with a classmate named Robyn Anderson.<ref name="FatalFriendship">{{cite news |first1=Linda |last1=Bartels |first2=Carla|last2=Crowder |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |title=Fatal Friendship |work=[[Denver Rocky Mountain News]] |date=August 22, 1999 |access-date=June 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205024601/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0822fata1.shtml |archive-date=December 5, 2008 }}</ref>

Harris and Klebold linked their personal computers on a network and played video games over the Internet. Harris created a set of levels for the game ''Doom'', which later became known as the "Harris levels". The levels are downloadable over the internet through [[Doom WAD|''Doom'' WADs]]. Harris had a web presence under the [[User (computing)|handle]] "REB" (short for Rebel, a nod to the nickname of Columbine High's sports teams) and other online aliases, including "Rebldomakr", "Rebdoomer", and "Rebdomine". Klebold went by the names "VoDKa" and "VoDkA", after the [[Vodka|alcoholic beverage]]. Harris had various websites that hosted ''Doom'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' files, as well as team information for those with whom he gamed online. The sites openly espoused hatred for people in their neighborhood and the world in general. When the pair began experimenting with [[pipe bomb]]s, they posted results of the explosions on the websites. The website was shut down by [[America Online]] after the shootings and was preserved for the FBI.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harris hinted at violence to come |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9904/21/harris.profile.02/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=April 22, 1999|access-date=August 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826205519/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9904/21/harris.profile.02/index.html|archive-date=August 26, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Initial criminal activity===
On the night of January 30, 1998, Harris and Klebold broke into a locked van to steal computers and other electronic equipment. A short while after a Jefferson County sheriff's officer drove upon the two boys parked further down road at another park entrance and since the park area was closed by that time of night, the arresting deputy decided to further inspect them. The deputy announced his presence as one of the boys prepared to move the stolen goods into the trunk of the car. Harris shortly after admitted to theft after the deputy asked about where the equipment came from.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Originals to Evidence |url=http://acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p10501-10600.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316001137/http://acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p10501-10600.pdf |archive-date=2013-03-16 |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=acolumbinesite.com}}</ref> They were later charged with [[mischief]], [[burglary|breaking and entering]], [[trespass]]ing, and [[theft]]. They both left good impressions on [[Juvenile court|juvenile officers]], who offered to [[expunge]] their [[criminal record]]s if they agreed to attend a diversionary program which included [[community service]] and [[psychotherapy|psychiatric treatment]]. Harris was required to attend [[anger management]] classes where, again, he made a favorable impression. The boys' [[probation officer]] discharged them from the program a few months ahead of schedule for good behavior. Regarding Harris, it was remarked that he was "a very bright individual who is likely to succeed in life", while Klebold was said to be intelligent, but "needs to understand that hard work is part of fulfilling a dream."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMoCwAAQBAJ&q=a+very+bright+individual+who+is+likely+to+succeed+in+life&pg=PT46 |title=Fundamentals of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice: With Selected Readings |isbn=9781506326696 |access-date=July 13, 2020 |last1=Bachman |first1=Ronet D. |last2=Schutt |first2=Russell K. |last3=Plass |first3=Peggy S. |date=December 19, 2015 |publisher=SAGE Publications |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107113921/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMoCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT46&lpg=PT46&dq=a+very+bright+individual+who+is+likely+to+succeed+in+life |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several months later on April 30, Harris handed over the first version of a letter of apology he wrote to the owner of the van, which he completed the next month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schoolshooters.info/eric-harris-diversion.pdf |title=Eric Harris Juvenille Diversion File |access-date=October 15, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014005724/http://www.schoolshooters.info/eric-harris-diversion.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2014 |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref> In the letter, Harris expressed regret about his actions; however, in one of his journal entries dated April&nbsp;12, he wrote: "Isn't america supposed to be the land of the free? how come, If im free, I cant deprive some fucking dumbshit from his possessions If he leaves them sitting in the front seat of his fucking van in plain sight in the middle of fucking nowhere on a fri-fucking-day night? [[Natural selection]]. Fucker should be shot. {{sic}}".<ref>{{cite web |first=Dave |last=Cullen |title=Eric's big lie |url=http://www.columbine-online.com/journals/columbine-eric-harris-big-lie.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119045203/http://www.columbine-online.com/journals/columbine-eric-harris-big-lie.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 19, 2011 |work=Columbine Online}}</ref><ref name="Erics_journal">{{cite web |first=Cyn|last=Shepard |url=http://acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/journal/journal.html |title=Columbine shooter Eric Harris' Journals and Writing |website=Acolumbinesite.com |access-date=October 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904072615/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/journal/journal.html |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===''Hitmen for Hire''===
When an economics class had Harris make an ad for a business, he and Klebold made a video called ''Hitmen for Hire'' on December 8, 1998, which was released in February 2004. It depicts them as part of the [[Trench coat|Trench Coat]] [[Mafia]], a clique in the school who wore black trench coats, extorting money for protecting [[Preppy|preps]] from bullies.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|pp=197–199}}</ref> They were apparently not a part of the Trench Coat Mafia, but were friends with some of its members.<ref name=Salon>{{cite web|last=Cullen |first=Dave |url=http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |title=Inside the Columbine High investigation |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=September 23, 1999 |access-date=May 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517044320/http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|They did not appear in a group photo of the Trench Coat Mafia in the yearbook.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilgoren|first=Jodi|date=1999-04-25|title=TERROR IN LITTLETON: THE GROUP; Society of Outcasts Began With a $99 Black Coat|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html|access-date=2022-01-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626024728/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=BBC News &#124; Americas &#124; Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|access-date=2022-01-12|website=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|title=Columbine High School shooting focuses on "Trench Coat Mafia"|first1=Susan|last1=Greene|first2=Bill Briggs &#124; The Denver|last2=Post|date=April 21, 1999|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200843/https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Harris's father stated that his son was "a member of what they call the Trench Coat Mafia" in the 9-1-1 call he made on April 20, 1999.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|p=219}}</ref>}} They wore black trench coats on the day of the massacre, and the video seemed a kind of [[dress rehearsal]], showing them walking the halls of the school, and shooting bullies outside with fake guns.<ref name=hithire>{{cite web|url=https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|title=Hitmen For Hire · Eric Harris School Assignment|website=columbine-guide.com|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016165421/https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both also displayed themes of violence in their creative writing projects; of a ''Doom''-based story written by Harris on January 17, 1999, Harris's teacher said: "Yours is a unique approach and your writing works in a gruesome way — good details and mood setting."<ref>{{cite web |author=Shepard, Cyn |title=Eric's writing: Creative writing story |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |publisher=A Columbine Site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183643/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Cyn|last=Shepard|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |title=Gunfire in the halls |publisher=A Columbine Site |access-date=August 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917052743/http://acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |archive-date=September 17, 2010 }}</ref>