Columbine: 24 years later

Apr. 20—At 11:23 a.m., exactly 24 years to the minute from when a police radio call alerted that a female student was "down," Rhonda Grinder beat a wooden cross into the earth.

"Help me, Rhonda. Help, help me, Rhonda," she sang, and a Columbine student obliged, handing her the next cross on the way to what would be 13 standing in a tight row.

That one was decorated with the name and picture of Isaiah Scholes, a Columbine High School senior who was shot in the second-floor library on April 20, 1999.

Scholes, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez, Kelly Fleming, John Tomlin, Matthew Kechter, Corey DePooter, Cassie Bernall, Daniel Mauser and Steven Curnow also died in the library where some were spending lunchtime studying for finals.

Rachel Scott, 17, was the first killed and the subject of that urgent radio call. Fifteen year-old Daniel Rohrbaugh was headed to a park for lunch when he was shot on the sidewalk.

The only teacher who died, Dave Sanders, was hit in the torso, head and neck in the hall outside of the library and crawled to a science room where several students kept him alive for three hours before he succumbed from blood loss.

Sanders, a girls' softball coach and business educator, is credited for having the presence of mind to usher as many as 100 students and other teachers from the building as soon as he heard the gunshots.

"I thank Dave Sanders for my granddaughters," said Steve Schweizberger, who visits the memorial every April 20 to lay crosses.

When Sanders yelled for his daughter, Sara, to run, she did, and she survived not only gunshots, but a propane bomb near where she was standing which never exploded.

At least 90 other explosives were placed throughout the school by the Columbine assailants which never detonated due to electrical failure or unstable fireworks powder, explained bomb technicians at the time.

Though an icy wind blew across Littleton's Clement Park Thursday, a steady stream of people brought cards, flowers and personal stories with them to the Columbine Memorial. The site was dedicated on Sept. 21, 2007, eight years after what was, at the time, the country's most deadly school shooting.

The Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida surpassed Columbine in 2018 when 17 people were killed.

Tohny Hill had no idea he was visiting the memorial on the shooting's 24th commemoration. Hill wondered why there were so many people with heads lowered at the semi-circle which honors each victim.

"Really? Wow," when he was informed of the importance of the day.

He said he came to Colorado to celebrate 4/20 and took a detour because he'd always been curious about the mass school shooting which almost kept him from going to high school.

Hill was in 7th grade on April 20, 1999.

"It's the first school shooting we took seriously," he said.

DAY OF SERVICE

Every April 20 is a Day of Service for Columbine High School students who weren't even born when the shooting happened. Four of them bowed their heads over John Tomlin's dedicated spot at the memorial.

"It's a big family at Columbine," said Lowri Marshall, a junior.

All four of the students spent their morning cleaning up the school gym for their act of service. One, Vincent Hernandez, had tears in his eyes and tiny white flowers in his hair.

Sierra Rodriguez, 24, left a vase of blooms of all colors at a stone inscription that read: "You're a Columbine Rebel for life and no one can ever take that away from you."

Her cousin, a junior at Columbine, stayed home sick April 20, 1999.

"My family got lucky 24 years ago today," she said.

Each year since the memorial's existence, Crystal Ashton, who knew Danny Rohrbaugh, has left some kind of flower on each victim's plaque. This year, she left irises.

Dilan Tolleson, 23, sat silence, a hoodie over his head to block the constant wind.

"It's nice to take some time to think," said Tolleson. "It still affects everybody and these shootings are still going on."