'An incredible, helpless agony': Sue Klebold, Columbine shooter's mother, on living with legacy of tragedy
Seventeen years after Dylan Klebold took part in the Columbine High School shooting, his mother Sue Klebold has finally started talking about living with grief and shame, in her new book, A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy.
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Sue Klebold, the mother of one of the Columbine shooters, talks about living in the aftermath of tragedy
9 years ago
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Sue Klebold, the mother of one of the Columbine shooters, talks about living in the aftermath of tragedy
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The Current41:29Sue Klebold, Columbine shooter's mother, on living in the aftermath of tragedy
Warning: this interview contains disturbing material.
Columbine. The name of the school has come to symbolize a moment of mindless murder and overpowering sorrow. On April 20, 1999, two 17-year-old boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought shotguns and automatic weapons to their school in Littleton, Colo.
At the end of their rampage, 15 people were dead: 12 students, one teacher and the two gunmen, by self-inflicted gunshots.
Loving someone is not enough to keep them safe if their thoughts are broken.- Sue Klebold
Dylan Klebold was 17 when he and another classmate killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School, before taking their own lives, in 1999. (Courtesy of Sue Klebold) For the past 17 years, Sue Klebold, Dylan Klebold's mother, has lived with the grief and shame of what her son did on that horrific day. She has racked her mind to comprehend how the kind, young son she loved could carry out such a despicable crime.
And, she's finally began to talk about her journey in a new book, A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. Profits from the book will be donated to research and charitable organizations focusing on mental health issues.
Sue and Dylan Klebold, in a photo from Sue's book, A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. (Courtesy of Sue Klebold)
This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal.
