 APRIL 20, 1999 - LITTLETON, COLO.
Violence in Georgia Once again, a shooting incident scars an American school
It was not quite "another Columbine," but the shooting incident Wednesday at a high school near Atlanta sent a chill of recognition and fear down the nation's spine.
The latest incident took place one month to the day after the killings in Littleton — a month of grief and anguished reflection, and also a month littered with copycat incidents on a smaller scale. Threats, cruel hoaxes and foiled attempts at violence have multiplied across the country. These incidents, and Thursday's shooting, do not change the underlying issues in the national debate over school violence, but they raise the stakes. Each incident is horrifying enough in its own right, and for a certain type of mind each can become a model and a spur to violence.
THIS WAS NO HATE-FILLED CONSPIRATOR IN THE MOLD OF THE COLUMBINE KILLERS; THIS WAS A QUIET, CONFUSED AND DESPONDENT BOY WHO SEEMS TO HAVE FRIGHTENED HIMSELF AS MUCH AS ANYONE.
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The exact nature of the connection is still a mystery in the case of the teenager who opened fire on Thursday morning at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga. From the few available details, this was no hate-filled conspirator in the mold of the Columbine killers; this was a quiet, confused and despondent boy who seems to have frightened himself as much as anyone when he resorted to violence a few days after breaking up with his girlfriend. The cases were different, and fortunately so was the outcome. No one died at Heritage High School.
Those facts do not erase the deeply disturbing similarity between Heritage, Columbine and other cases in which a troubled student dealt with his frustrations by picking up a gun. The point has been clear to high school students all over the country since Columbine. "Every day since then I've been thinking about whether it could happen here," said one student at Heritage, which like Columbine is a suburban, predominantly white school. "Last night I was thinking that this might be the day."
On that very day, President Clinton flew to Colorado to meet with the grieving families of the Columbine victims, and to speak privately with students. Clinton has responded with sensitivity and restraint in the weeks since the shooting in Littleton, while mounting a campaign against school violence on several fronts, from guns to violent entertainment. The president is to be applauded for his initiatives, but he might be the first to agree that the most important discussions of all are taking place in communities across the country, as families and educators and neighborhoods ask, "What can we do?"
Among many good answers to that question, two themes stand out. Society needs to respond with a higher level of sympathy and attentiveness to young people who stand apart as outcasts — because they belong to a particular group or because, in their isolation, they belong to no group at all. And society must deny young people access to the guns they use, in disturbing and increasing numbers, to express the rage inside them. The shooting incident in Georgia does nothing to change that agenda and underscores once again how critically important it is.
May 21, 1999 | Print this page
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PHOTOS
A Daily Camera photo essay detailed the tragedy of April 20 and the recovery and remembrance in the following weeks: photo essay
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INTERACT
With the recent rise in school violence, do you feel schools are still safe? vote here
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THE INVESTIGATION
Man pleads innocent to helping Columbine killers get weapons full story
Relatives angry about handling of case full story
Parents of Columbine killer seek to limit evidence access full story
Investigators meet with Harris' parents full story
CHS investigators focus on computers full story
FBI investigator's son linked to case full story
Killer reportedly took Luvox antidepressant full story
Detectives question shooter's girlfriend full story
Bombs found in cafeteria full story
Portraits of the killers full story
Killer's diary describes plot of hate full story
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GUNS AND LAW
Inaction on gun control could prompt ballot issues full story
Democrats say they'll carry gun laws favored by Owens full story
Owens says tougher laws wouldn't have prevented tragedy full story
State senator plans to revive bill on concealed-handguns full story
Despite pressure, more gun control measures unlikely full story
Columbine dad lobbies Washington full story
Senate passes more gun controls full story
Columbine killers also wounded the NRA full story
Senate rejects any new restrictions on gun-show sales
full story
Gun control strife full
story
Leaders scrap gun bills full story
Guns and legislatures full story
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