Two teenagers killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The attack lingers in the popular imagination as the first in a string of modern-day school shootings in the United States.
The April 20, 1999 massacre of a teacher and 12 students shocked the world, marking the start of an era of school shootings in the United States and a fierce national debate about gun control that continues two decades later.
Survivors gave speeches at the ceremony, which also featured the presentation of a 17th-century Japanese tea bowl by Makoto Fujimura. The artist repaired the broken bowl by mending it together with gold.
"Being Columbine survivors, we found the strength and the courage to continue forging our path in life, but it didn't come without struggles," said survivor Mandy Cooke. "I do know that many of us continue to struggle because of that awful day."
Earlier in the day, visitors placed flowers at a memorial near the high school that features plaques dedicated to the victims.
Deadly mass shootings in the US
Mass shootings have become common tragedies in the US, where guns kill roughly 30,000 per year. From movie theaters to schools, mass shootings can occur at any place where large numbers of people are gathered.
Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
Ned Peppers Bar, Dayton
In the early hours of August 4, 2019, a man carrying a rifle opened fire at people outside a bar in Ohio, leaving nine people dead before police killed him. The man was wearing body armor and had additional magazines for the .223-caliber rifle. Police responded to the shooting within one minute; had they not, Mayor Nan Whaley said, "hundreds of people in the Oregon District could be dead today."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Minchillo
Walmart, El Paso
Several hours earlier, Patrick Wood Crusius was arrested on suspicion of killing 20 people and injuring 26. The suspect allegedly posted an online screed shortly before the shooting that echoed US President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant statements. He appeared to target people he believed to be immigrants from Mexico. Prosecutors said they'd treat the shooting as domestic terrorism.
Image: Reuters/C. Sanchez
Municipal Center, Virginia Beach
Mourners gathered for a vigil in response to a shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on June 1, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire, apparently indiscriminately, outside and inside the building before engaging in a battle with police, who ultimately shot and killed him, authorities said. Including the gunman, the death toll was 13.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/P. Semansky
Borderline Bar & Grill, Thousand Oaks
In November 2018, a 28-year-old former Marine attacked a country dance bar outside Los Angeles, killing 12 people and wounding 10 others. The bar was holding a "College Night" and was packed with a young crowd. The gunman was found dead inside the bar, apparently he killed himself.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Terrill
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh
Eleven worshipers were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 while attending a baby naming ceremony. Six others were injured, including four police officers. The gunman is currently facing 29 criminal counts and could receive the death penalty. Police said he told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that
he wanted them all to die.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wittpenn
Parkland, Florida
A 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killed 17 of his fellow classmates in February 2018. For the first time in the US, survivors of a mass shooting came together to demand immediate action on gun control. The students founded March for our Lives, a nationwide student mass protest movement.
Image: picture-alliance/E.Rua
First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs
A grudge against his in-laws led a 26-year-old man to attack a church in the small, tight-knit community of Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. The shooter killed 26 people between the ages of 18 months and 72 years. The mass shooting prompted President Donald Trump to focus the issue of gun violence on mental health and away from gun ownership.
In the deadliest mass shooting in US history, concertgoers were targeted at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017. The shooter, a 64-year-old man with no criminal record, attacked from a room in the nearby Mandalay Hotel, killing 59 people and wounding more than 400. Authorities found 23 guns in the shooter's room.
Image: picture-alliance/M. J. Sanchez
Pulse nightclub, Orlando
An Afghan-American with a deep hatred for homosexuals attacked a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando, Florida in June 2016. Using an AR-15 rifle, the gunman stormed the darkened hall and killed 50 partygoers. The shooting was condemned worldwide and brought attention to hate crimes against the gay community.
Image: Reuters/J. Young
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown
The December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut rocked the nation in its brutality. It was the first time children under the age of 8 had been directly targeted, with 20 of them dying. Mourning parents flew to Washington, DC to support President Barack Obama's background checks legislation. The law ultimately wasn't approved, despite an emotional national debate.
Image: AP
Century 16 Theater, Aurora
In July 2012, a gunman opened fire during a movie screening in Aurora, Colorado, causing chaos and confusion. In the aftermath, 14 people were killed and 50 were wounded. The assailant attacked moviegoers as they were watching the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg
A student went on a shooting spree in a dorm and a class hall at Virginia Tech University campus in April 2007, leaving 32 people dead. The shooting turned the nation's attention to the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful lobby group, which has fought to stop gun control laws.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Maury
Columbine High School, Littleton
The 1999 assault in Littleton, Colorado, was the first school shooting to shock the nation. Two disgruntled students walked into their high school and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing 13 people. The attack would later become the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, that examined the causes of gun violence in the US.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
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Shooters' admirer stokes fears
The two Columbine shooters have inspired a small cult-like following since the attack.
Columbine was on heightened alert earlier in the week after police said they were searching for an 18-year-old woman who was "infatuated" with the 1999 shooting and had bought a gun in Denver.
