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'Columbine' Debunks The Myths Of The Massacre

Popular explanations for the terror Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wreaked on their Colorado high school often mention bullying. But Dave Cullen has been following the story since that deadly day, and in his new book, Columbine, he reveals the real story of their rampage.

In his interview with Neal Conan, Cullen warns of the pitfalls of reaching quick conclusions about the "why" behind tragedies like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech. "Key information doesn't come out for months or even years," he cautions, "so if you start to come to a determination of why within hours, it may be years before you have the information to make that conclusion."

Cullen does believe, however, that in the years since Columbine, "people have been much much better about just holding off and saying, 'we don't know why yet.'"

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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