Mother's thoughts on Reason for shooting

Sue Klebold, mother of Dylan Klebold, gives a TED Talk on something she has been researching and trying to understand for years. Dylan was one of the Columbine shooters that killed 12 students, 1 teacher and injured many more. Sue starts off the talk by explaining that she is deeply sorry for the families and friends that had to endure the loss of their family member or friend. She then starts to talk about her son, saying not only was he a murderer, he committed suicide. Sue walks the audience through what it was, and still is, like to be the mother of someone with a legacy like her son’s. People always ask her “what kind of mother are you” or “how did you not know”, and not only did she ask herself the same questions, she looked for any possible solution to why her son felt he had to go down that road. This leads into her conspiracy of why Dylan went through with his plan on April 20, 1999.

Sue threw some statistics out to the crowd saying that it is estimated that 75-90% of people that have died from suicide have a diagnosable mental illness. She went on to say that most of the people that feel depressed or hopeless, like her son, will never get tested or diagnosed until they act out behaviorally. Sue believes that the school environment and people made him feel derailed and underappreciated which led him to self-inflict pain by cutting himself almost 2 years before the shooting also writing on the same paper that relieved his agony that he wanted to get a gun so he can end his life. The continued harmful environment at school and the finding of a friend that shared the same disturbing ideas led to the shooting. Sue states more statistics saying that 2% of all suicides involve the murder of another person. She believes that the vicious acts of murdering people was not rooted in his want to kill, but rooted in the fact the he wanted to die himself. Sue came across another realization while talking to a coworker that had experienced suicidal thoughts. Her coworker explained that Dylan did not love Sue any less than she loved him. The fact that his peers made him feel unwanted, made Dylan think that his mother would be better off without him.

Sue experienced a lot of medical problems due to lack of care for herself and fell into a state of depression herself. After getting help, she started to realize that she invest her time in things that will hopefully prevent suicides. She volunteers at several organizations that talk to kids with depression and with mental illnesses. The world may never know why Dylan and his friend came to the point of murdering a teacher and students, but Sue has come to the conclusion herself on what to believe.

“My Son Was a Columbine Shooter. This Is My Story.” YouTube, TED Talk, 2 Feb. 2017, youtu.be/7xfyN-yBZ7c.