What Motivates School Shootings?

Eric Harris

“Someone’s bound to say, ‘What were they thinking?’ ” Eric Harris wrote in his journal, days before he and his friend Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School and killed 13 people. “This is what I’m thinking. I have a goal to destroy as much as possible.” Harris saw himself as an enlightened person because he saw the irrelevance of life. “People will say things like, ‘Oh, it was so tragic,’ ” he predicted. “You think that’s a bad thing? Just because your mommy and daddy told you blood and violence is bad, you think it’s a f—ing law of nature?”