Thirteen empty chairs with roses and candles were set out to remember the victims of the mass murder at Columbine High School in 1999. Photo: Jack Dempsey / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 20.04.2024 22:20:29
Education: Late Friday, around 150 attended a commemoration ahead of the somber 25th anniversary on Saturday. Candles were lit on 13 empty chairs, and short biographies of the victims were read out.
– Never forgotten, said the crowd in response after each of the readings.
The youngest person killed in the attack, which inspired a string of similar incidents, was 14-year-old Steven Curnow. The oldest was teacher Dave Sanders (47). He made sure to get the students out of the school canteen, but was shot and killed when he tried to get them to safety in classrooms on an upper floor.
– The children he saved now have children of their own, and those children will have children again. “Generations from now, people will know they exist because of his courage,” Sanders’ daughter Coni Sanders said before the ceremony.
The others killed were Rachel Scott, Kyle Velasquez, Corey DePooter, Cassie Bernall, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Dan Rohrbaugh, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin and Lauren Townsend.
In addition to commemorating those killed, the event also focused on those who were wounded, and on those who survived, but have been strongly affected by the incident.
(© NTB)