The shooting was planned as a
terrorist attack that would cause "the most deaths in US history", but the motive has never been ascertained with any degree of certainty. In a letter provided with the May 15 report on the Columbine attack, Sheriff John Stone and Undersheriff John A. Dunaway wrote they "cannot answer the most fundamental question—why?" In April 1998, a year prior to the shooting, as part of his diversion program, Harris wrote a letter of apology to the owner of the van he and Klebold broke into earlier that year. By far the most prevalent theme in Klebold's journals is his wish for suicide and private despair at his lack of success with women, which he refers to as an "infinite sadness". Klebold had repeatedly documented his desires to kill himself, and his final remark in the Basement Tapes, shortly before the attack, is a resigned statement made as he glances away from the camera: "Just know I'm going to a better place. I didn't like life too much." The FBI's theory was used by
Dave Cullen for his 2009 book
Columbine. Harris was depicted as the mastermind, having a
messianic-level superiority complex and hoping to demonstrate his superiority to the world. Klebold was a follower who primarily participated in the massacre as a means to simply end his life. This theory has been met with criticism. They also cite evidence that Harris was depressed as well, such as his prescription for
antidepressants mentioned below.
Medication Opponents of contemporary
psychiatry like
Peter Breggin claim that the
psychiatric medications prescribed to Harris may have exacerbated his aggressiveness. Harris had complained of
depression, anger, and suicidal thoughts, for which he was prescribed antidepressants.
Toxicology reports confirmed that Harris had
fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox, in his bloodstream at the time of the shootings, whereas Klebold had no medications in his system. Harris continued his scheduled meetings with his psychologist until a few months before the massacre.
Other theories There have been other attempts to diagnose Harris and Klebold with mental illness.
Peter Langman believes Harris was a psychopath and Klebold was
schizotypal. Professor Aubrey Immelman published a
personality profile of Harris, based on journal entries and personal communication, and believes the materials suggested behavior patterns consistent with a "
malignant narcissism...
pathological narcissistic personality disorder with
borderline and
antisocial features, along with some
paranoid traits, and unconstrained aggression."
Media speculation Bullying Early stories following the massacre charged that school administrators and teachers at Columbine had long condoned bullying by jocks and this explained the motive. The link between bullying and school violence has attracted increasing attention since. Accounts from various parents and school staffers reported bullying in the school. Reportedly, Harris and Klebold were regularly called "
faggots". Klebold said on the Basement Tapes, "You've been giving us shit for years;" however, they also stated several times on the tapes and in the journals that no one else was to blame, nor could have prevented the attack. Dylan when talking to his father about the jocks had stated, "They sure give Eric hell." but he also said that the jocks tended to leave him [Dylan] alone. Brown also noted Harris was born with mild
chest indent. This made him reluctant to take his shirt off in gym class, and other students would laugh at him. Nathan Vanderau, a friend of Klebold, and Alisa Owen, who knew Harris, noted they were picked on. Vanderau recalled that a "cup of fecal matter" was thrown at them. It has been alleged that Harris and Klebold were once both confronted by a group of students at CHS who sprayed them with ketchup while referring to them as "faggots" and "
queers". Klebold told his mother it had been the worst day of his life. According to Brown, "That happened while teachers watched. They couldn't fight back. They wore the ketchup all day and went home covered with it." According to classmate Chad Laughlin, it involved seniors pelting Klebold with "ketchup-covered tampons" in the commons. Laughlin also stated, "A lot of the tension in the school came from the class above us...There were people fearful of walking by a table where you knew you didn't belong, stuff like that. Certain groups certainly got preferential treatment across the board." A similar theory was expounded by Brooks Brown in his book on the massacre,
No Easy Answers; he noted that teachers commonly ignored bullying and that when Harris and Klebold were bullied by the jocks at CHS, they would make statements such as: "Don't worry, man. It happens all the time!" Cullen, as well as forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and criminologists dispute the theory of "revenge for bullying" as a motivation. While acknowledging the pervasiveness of bullying in high schools including CHS, Cullen claimed they were not victims of bullying. He noted Harris was more often the perpetrator than victim of bullying. In an entry by Eric Harris in his journal, he stated that even if he were complimented and respected more by his peers, the attack would have still, in all likelihood, occurred. In another entry by Eric in his journal he says not to blame the school's administration for the attack as the staff were doing a good job running the school. In a fact check published on April 19, 2019, on the eve of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the massacre, Gillian Brockell in
The Washington Post underscored that, contrary to the popular view, their attack was not revenge for being bullied. Author Jeff Kass who has also published a book on the attack believes that bullying was not the cause. Peter Langman also argues against bullying being the cause of the attack. Other researchers have also argued against the bullying hypothesis.
Isolation Rejection was also highlighted as a possible cause. Social
cliques within high schools such as the Trench Coat Mafia were widely discussed. One perception formed was that Harris and Klebold were both outcasts who had been isolated from their classmates, prompting feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and depression, as well as a strong need for power and attention. Harris's last journal entry reads, "I hate you people for leaving me out of so many fun things", while Klebold wrote "The lonely man strikes with absolute rage." In an interview, Brown described them as the school's worst outcasts, "the losers of the losers". This concept too has been questioned, as both Harris and Klebold had a close circle of friends and a wider informal social group. Cullen and Brockell both also say they were not in the Trench Coat Mafia and were not isolated outcasts or loners. Other close friends of the pair such as Chad Laughlin and Nathan Dykeman state the duo were not outcasts. Peter Langman also concurs by also arguing against the pair being loners and outcasts.
Political terrorism Some peers, such as Robyn Anderson, stated that the pair were not interested in
Nazism, and they did not worship or admire Hitler in any way. However, in retrospect, Anderson also stated that there were many things the pair did not tell friends. Harris at least did revere the Nazis, often praising them in his journal.
Sociologist Ralph Larkin has theorized that the massacre was to trigger a revolution of outcast students and the dispossessed: "[A]s an overtly political act in the name of oppressed students victimized by their peers. [...] The Columbine shootings redefined such acts not merely as revenge but as a means of protest of bullying, intimidation, social isolation, and public rituals of humiliation." In contrast with the theory that the attack was political, one author argues Columbine was only increasingly linked to terrorism after the September 11 attacks.
Marilyn Manson In the late 1990s, Marilyn Manson and his band established themselves as a household name, and as one of the most controversial rock acts in music history. Their two album releases prior to the massacre were both critical and commercial successes, and by the time of their
Rock Is Dead Tour in 1999, the frontman had become a
culture war iconoclast and a rallying icon for alienated youth. Immediately after the massacre, a significant portion of blame was directed at the band and, specifically, at its outspoken frontman. In the weeks following the shootings, media reports about Harris and Klebold portrayed them and the Trench Coat Mafia as part of a gothic
cult. Early media reports alleged that the shooters were fans, and were wearing the group's T-shirts during the massacre. Although these claims were later proven to be false, news outlets continued to run sensationalist stories with headlines such as "Killers Worshipped Rock Freak Manson" and "Devil-Worshipping Maniac Told Kids To Kill". Speculation in national media and among the public led many to believe that Manson's music and imagery were the shooters' sole motivation, Despite this, Marilyn Manson were widely criticized by religious, political, and entertainment-industry figures. Under mounting pressure in the days after Columbine, the group postponed their last five North American tour dates out of respect for the victims and their families. Manson published his response to these accusations in an
op-ed piece for
Rolling Stone, titled "Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?", in which he castigated America's gun culture, the political influence of the National Rifle Association, and the media's irresponsible coverage, which he said facilitated the placing of blame on a
scapegoat. After concluding the European and Japanese legs of their tour on August 8, the band withdrew from public view to work on their next album, 2000's
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) as an artistic rebuttal to the allegations leveled against them.
Video games Violent video games were also blamed. Parents of some of the victims filed several unsuccessful lawsuits against video game manufacturers. Jerald Block believes their immersion in a virtual world best explains the massacre. Harris and Klebold were both fans of shooter video games such as
Doom,
Quake,
Duke Nukem 3D and
Postal. A file on Harris's computer read the massacre will "be like the
LA riots, the
Oklahoma bombing,
WWII,
Vietnam,
Duke and
Doom all mixed together."
Doom They were avid fans of
Doom especially. Harris said of the massacre, "It's going to be like...
Doom." He also wrote "I must not be sidetracked by my feelings of sympathy...so I will force myself to believe that everyone is just another monster from
Doom." In Harris's yearbook, Klebold wrote "I find a similarity between people and
Doom zombies." Harris named his shotgun Arlene after a character in the
Doom novels. The TEC-9 Klebold used resembled an AB-10, a weapon from the
Doom novels that Harris referenced several times. Harris spent a great deal of time creating a large WAD, named Tier (German for 'animal', and a
song by
Rammstein), calling it his "life's work". The WAD was uploaded to the Columbine school computer and to AOL shortly before the attack, but appears to have been lost. Brooks Brown wrote that pipe bombs were set in the halls of the school with the intention of causing a chain reaction, because that's what happens in
Duke Nukem 3D. Brown also wrote they shot wildly because it works in
Duke Nukem 3D. Some scientists also reached the same conclusion. Adam Lankford, a researcher for the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who identified 24 fame-seeking mass shooters between 1966 and 2015, included both Harris and Klebold in the group, partially blaming the "American idolization of fame" as a root cause. ==Legacy==