"Columbine Online: The Bombs page—Share a decade of Dave Cullen's research on the Columbine killers.

New York Times Bestseller

AWARDS
Edgar Award
Barnes & Noble Discover Award
Goodreads Choice Award
Top Education Book of 2009
The Truth About the Fact Award

FINALIST
LA Times Book Award
American Library Association Alex Award
Audie Award
Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award
Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award

BEST OF 2009 LISTS
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Publishers Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
American School Board Journal
Salon.com
Chicago Tribune
Amazon
Miami Herald
American Library Association
Bookmarks Magazine (UK)
Mother Jones
Borders
Washington Post Express
iTunes
Audible.com
National Post (Canada)
New Haven Register
Oakland East Bay Express
New West
New London's The Day
Asia Literary Review

_____

"What's amazing is how much of Cullen's book still comes as a surprise . . . [Cullen's] nuanced dissection of the differences between Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold is first-rate."
— New York Times Book Review

The Rest of the Story
on this site

The sheer size of the Columbine evidence is overwhelming. And most of the early reporting on why it happened was wrong.

I culled through thousands of police files, pictures, journals, videos, interviews, 911 calls, crime scene photos, etc. As I organized the information, I decided to share my research online.

For this site, I compiled the most significant evidence and tried to make it easy to find. I hope this helps you navigate the maze of myths, distortions and the truth. Good luck on your search.

The Bombs

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold planned Columbine primarily as a bombing. It was to begin with the eruption of two big propane bombs in the cafeteria. Eric and Dylan then intended to open fire at fleeing survivors. They also loaded their cars with bombs and gasoline, set to detonate about 40 minutes later.

These are the official police (sheriff's) photos of the big bombs. They all failed. (Only the pipe bombs worked.) Captions appear under each photo.

Bomb Summarys from the JeffCo Sheriff's Department. Click to read more.

One of the two big propane bombs in the cafeteria. The timing device is to the left.

The second big propane bomb in the cafeteria, among the mess left during the panic.

Timing device from one of the cars, set to noon.

Car bomb explosives. (They didn't bother to rig it all together. The main device in each car was supposed to set it off and erupt the big jugs of gasoline, etc..

Car bombs, disassembled.

Car bomb from a distance, after some disassembly.

Pipe Bomb