2nd Anniversary of Columbine Massacre Marked With Quiet Memorials

The nation marked the second anniversary of the Columbine High School tragedy with quiet memorials Friday--and authorities reported scattered school threats apparently timed to coincide with the occasion.

In San Diego, three young men--ages 17, 19 and 21--were arrested after being spotted outside a high school waving a gun and a sign that said, “Happy Birthday Columbine.”

A student alleged that one of the three pointed the gun at him, said police spokesman Bill Robinson. The 17-year-old was taken to Juvenile Hall. The other two were taken to County Jail.

Attendance at another local high school plunged to 20% amid rumors that there might be violence on campus because of the second anniversary of the Columbine slaughter, officials said. Another rumor said the violence might be linked to the anniversary of Hitler’s birth.

In Las Vegas, two eighth-graders were suspended for threatening Thursday to shoot up their school, and police reported finding a cache of weapons at a home where one of the boys was hiding, authorities said.

“They made verbal threats to come to school today and do a Columbine-style shooting,” Clark County School Police Sgt. Ken Young said as the nation’s sixth-largest school district tightened security around the anniversary of the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

Three other students also were arrested and suspended Thursday in separate threats leading up to Friday’s anniversary, Young said. No arrests or threats were reported in Las Vegas on Friday.

Administrators and law enforcement officers blanketed the school district to reassure parents and stamp out rumors that had led to widespread absenteeism, said Mary Stanley-Larsen, district spokeswoman. Only 300 of 1,200 pupils showed up for classes Friday at Woodbury Middle School, the campus where the threat was reported.

In Littleton, about 350 people marked the anniversary by listening as the names of the 13 people gunned down by two students were read aloud.

During the brief service at a park near Columbine, school officials asked the crowd to remember that the attack does not define the school or its students.

Holding hands and wiping away tears, relatives, friends, survivors and students walked past 13 wooden crosses, each 6 feet high, temporarily erected in a parking lot in honor of the victims.

“It’s just a time to remember,” Chris Bernall said, pausing at a cross bearing the name of his sister, Cassie. “I’ve moved on. I’ve had a sense of peace about it, knowing where Cassie is. She’s up in heaven.”

Christi Eveleth, 17, a Columbine senior who was home for lunch when the attack occurred, said the anniversary conjured up vivid memories.

“I get all the feelings back,” she said.

It was lunchtime April 20, 1999, when students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire. They killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others before committing suicide in the school library.