Method Gunshot Lessons from the Columbine Killers

[UpandDownPrincess]

So a couple of days ago I was re-reading the autopsy reports for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine shooters. As you likely know, they killed themselves after a shooting spree in their high school.

Surprisingly, I found a virtual primer on the use of a shotgun to kill oneself. Although both shooters killed themselves with a shotgun blast, one went through the roof of the mouth and one went through the side of the head. While the autopsy reports make for clinical reading, there's a lot to be learned there. The dimensions of the wounds, the destruction of skull bones and the trauma inflicted are described in detail. After reading them both, it's not hard to make comparisons and to speculate who might have hung on a little while afterward.

The autopsy reports are widely available online, so I'm not providing links. One note: the x-rays found online, supposedly of Eric Harris, are a fraud. If films were taken, which is unlikely, they have been destroyed. If you read the autopsy reports, it will be obvious that they could not be accurate.

There are frequently questions about shooting, so I hope this helps someone.

 

[Mistake of Nature]

The autopsies are definitely informative when it comes to CTBing via firearm.

As you mentioned, Harris used a shotgun through his mouth and, judging from the head wound summary and pictures of their bodies (they are obviously graphic and disturbing, so just a heads up to anyone who is considering googling them), his head/brain was destroyed instantaneously and death was immediate.

Klebold used a Tec-9 through his temple but blood was found in his airway and lungs, so his death was not as quick as Harris'. A surviving victim in the library where the shooters shot themselves also reported hearing "choking sounds" which probably came from Klebold. He was likely unconscious though because the wound was around the temporal/frontal lobe area.

I'd much prefer to use Harris' method. It's the ideal way to CTB in my opinion (as long as it's done correctly), but unfortunately I have no experience with guns and wouldn't have the courage to pull the trigger.

 

[summers]

@Mistake of Nature not sure which country you're in, but if in the US, you can go to a range and rent a variety of guns. If you become familiar with them, and get comfortable around gunshots, you may change your mind.

If not, it's a really fun hobby that's easy to advance in quickly. The real test of comfort around firearms is when you can have a conversation with someone while one of you is shooting without jumping or flinching.

 

[Throwmyselfaway]

Huh never would have thought to check out someone likes theirs reports.