Mike Levin: “last week, as the one-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting approached, rumors of copycat violence prompted panic…”

“last week, as the one-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting approached, rumors of copycat violence prompted panic among teachers and students. Principals and administrators sensitive to such rumors heightened security by bringing in police protection and extra security guards. Other districts relied on parents and community volunteers to monitor school activity, and still others canceled classes altogether rather than suffer the fate of a school shooting, or even the threat of one. For the most part, on the day the nation remembered Columbine, the rumors turned out to be just that--rumors. But the day did not go by without an act of copycat violence. The tragedy occurred, not here in the United States, but in Ottawa in the province of Ontario, Canada. An article in the Ottawa Citizen describes the attack by a 15-year-old boy as one directly linked to the Columbine killings. The teen-age boy was apparently obsessed with the school massacre, and reportedly had photographs of the Columbine killers posted in his school locker. Students remember the accused counting down the days in eager anticipation of the exact moment Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began their reign of terror. In many ways, the student in Ottawa had similar experiences to those of Harris and Klebold. Classmates teased him because of his appearance. He felt depressed and suicidal. He longed to be noticed, and perhaps thought this act of violence would give him the notoriety he craved.”