Last week's shooting massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., which resulted in the deaths of 14 students and one teacher, contrasts sharply with the serene suburban image of the town that Dartmouth students who grew up in the area knew.
"It's an area where you'd want your family to grow up," Yale Dieckman '00, who grew up near the high school, said. "It's sort of the epitome of suburbia."
Toby Hayes '99 who grew up in Littleton, five miles from Columbine, said he always felt safe in his town.
"We don't lock our doors at night," he said. "My friends and I used to call Littleton, 'Little Fun.' It's just a typical suburb."
Before last week's shooting, which drew national media attention to the school, it was known primarily for its strong athletic program, Kate Ebel '02, who went to one of Columbine's rival schools, said.
The students who grew up in the area surrounding Littleton all told The Dartmouth they were shocked when they heard about last week's shootings.
Elysa Goldman '02 said when she first heard about it, she didn't know any details of the story.
"I didn't think that it had anything to do with me," she said.
However, when she called her high school-aged brother, she started to realize the scope of the massacre.
"As I was talking to him, I was checking [America Online]," she said. The lead story was about the shootings.
She read about the two students -- Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17 -- at this mostly white and affluent suburban school who had violently murdered 12 students and one teacher. They had planned to kill at least 500, according to Lt. John Kiekbushch. At the time when Goldman was first reading the report, the death estimate was up to 24 dead.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "It's like my high school."
"It was just weird to see it all on TV," Ebel said. "It just shot it all home."
On the day of the shooting, one of her friends asked her if she had heard the news when she walked into Thayer Dining Hall. She said she thought, "It can't actually be in my town. It was a totally unreal experience."
Ebel said she recognized all the sites she saw on the television coverage in Collis that night.
"The school's about two miles from my house," Ebel said. "I used to play baseball in the park they use."
Hayes said he did not know at first at which high school in Littleton the shooting occurred.
"I was concerned that it could have been my high school," he said. He was worried about his own sister who is a 16-year-old junior at another local high school.
"The fact that an event like this can happen in Littleton means it can happen anywhere," he said.
"I was in awe that it could happen so close to home, especially at a place like Columbine given the type of area it is," Dieckmann said. "The type of area is not at all conducive to something like this happening. There's not a lot of crime. There's not a lot of drugs."
Sam Desai '00 said the shootings seemed unreal until he saw the televised coverage.
"It really hit home when you see all the news reporters from home that you recognize," he said. He said he began watching one of the funerals on television, but had to turn it off after 10 minutes because it was too sad.
The students who spoke with The Dartmouth said the shooting dramatically changed the atmosphere of Littleton and its surrounding towns.
"It's affecting the whole Denver community," Goldman said. "These are people you know. It's real life."
Goldman said one of her family friends was shot four times in the massacre and he may never be able to walk again.
"There's always the fear that something like this will happen again," Dieckman said. "It's one thing to read about these places in West Virginia and Arkansas and Washington state, and it's another thing to have it happen five to six miles from your house. It makes it a lot more real."
