Family: Rachel Scott’s story saves lives 25 years after she died at Columbine

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR) — Her story has inspired millions around the world. And Rachel Scott’s family says it has even saved lives.

“We have seen nine school shootings prevented — one last week,” her father, Darrell Scott, told FOX31. “It was in the state of Kentucky. And it’s still under investigation. But we know there was a list. A hit list. We know there were guns involved. And it was after an assembly that a student was brave enough to say: I know about someone who was planning to do a Columbine at our school.”

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At 17, Rachel was the first student killed when two student gunmen opened fire outside Columbine High School in Littleton on April 20, 1999. It was, at the time, the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Her family started a nonprofit, Rachel’s Challenge, after her death. It aims to address the root causes of gun violence at schools and encourage students to come forward if they know of a school shooting in the planning stages.

“And (we) tell them you’re not being a tattletale if it saves lives,” Darrell Scott said.

“In the last 25 years, we’ve reached 35 million students and parents in school assemblies, trainings. We create Friends of Rachel clubs in schools,” he added.

It’s the kind of impact no one could have imagined — except, perhaps, Rachel herself.

“When she was 13, she drew an outline of her hands, and she said these hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will someday touch millions of people’s hearts. She wrote that her life was going to count, and she was going to have an impact on the world. Then she also wrote, a short time before she died, she said: I’m dying. Slowly my body withers. It isn’t suicide. I consider it homicide. The world you’ve created has led to my death,” her father said.

‘Her message will last beyond us’

When police returned Rachel’s backpack after the Columbine shooting, the family found a diary inside. It provided a window into the influence she one day hoped to have on the world.

“And even though we only had Rachel for 17 years, her message will last beyond us,” her sister, Bethanee McCandless, said.

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The diary led to a mission for the family: carrying out Rachel’s wish of impacting the world.

“Every single one of my family members has been on the road, has worked behind the scenes, has done projects. Every single one of us have, I jokingly say, worked for Rachel in 25 years,” McCandless said.

“Her story has such an impact on young people,” Darrell Scott said.

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