DA: 'These deaths cannot be in vain'
By Kim Cobb
LITTLETON — Emotionally drained and admittedly troubled by what he's seen this week, the district attorney here pleaded Friday that the massacre at Columbine High School be used as a spark for cultural changes in a country where violent crime committed by children has become horrifyingly common.
"I've talked to most of the families involved in this case, and they've said there has to be some meaning to this," said Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas. "This has to result in something, and I guess that's what I'm trying to express today for some of those families, is, these deaths cannot be in vain.
"We can't walk away from here and wait for the next incident to occur, and then go cover that incident and not learn from this."
"If we as Americans can't seize this moment I'm not sure what else will wake us up. ... Fifteen people met their death on Tuesday of this week in what I believe is one of the most tragic events in American history.
"I don't want my community ... to be remembered forever as the place where that terrible tragedy occurred. I want it to be known as a place where we started to change in this country."
Thomas carries a personal sense of loss over the Columbine shootings. His two grown children attended Columbine High School, and two of his staff members lost family members in the massacre. Thomas had to walk into the carnage in the school library to help identify the grandchild of one of his office investigators.
"I have spent 26 years in the law enforcement profession, and I have never experienced anything like this," said Thomas, who is also a district attorney adviser on the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case in which a young beauty pageant winner was found dead in her home.
He called the school shootings here one of the single most tragic events in the nation's history and said it was a serious commentary on American society. Thomas said he's been asking the same questions others, particularly parents, have been asking about factors that may have contributed to or bolstered the shooters' violent tendencies.
"What I think it's about is cultural change, frankly, and I think it's a huge problem."
He said he was talking about a percentage of young people, however small, who can commit violent acts without any empathy, without any feeling.
"And I've seen some of these kids who can talk about blowing somebody's head off without any feeling of what that means. That's the kind of cultural change I'm talking about," Thomas said.
"Somehow we've allowed to grow within our communities some people without feelings, with the ability to go into a school and literally plan to destroy the entire building. I don't know if that's difficult for you to grasp. That's very difficult for me to grasp."
He asked for cooperation from the nation's news media, and called for a locally generated cooperative effort between Littleton and other communities which have been rocked by school shootings to research solutions to school violence.
April 24, 1999
Copyright 1999 The Daily Camera. All rights reserved.
Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any
of the contents of this service without the express written
consent of The Daily Camera is expressly prohibited.
Users of this site are subject to our
User Agreement. You may also read our
Privacy Policy
