It wasn’t long after Frank DeAngelis heard the news of the Aurora theater shooting early Friday morning that — sadly and predictably — his phone began to ring.
The principal of Columbine High School, the site of what was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history in 1999, has been a sought-after source whenever similar violence has flared. On Friday, he fielded calls from around the world.
Although there are differences in the circumstances between the Aurora tragedy and the rampage that killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine, DeAngelis noted parallels between the two incidents.
Both attacks appear to have been the result of careful planning and stockpiling of weapons, and produced similar death tolls. Both unfolded in places where many young people were likely to be victims — in places that are so much a part of everyday life that, until something horrible happens, people give little thought to safety.
“As a society, we were all violated by what happened last night, just as we were in Columbine ,” DeAngelis said — and as Americans were violated after other shootings and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “Everybody questioned, geez, is it safe to get on an airplane? I’m sure now, many of these theaters are going to question, ‘What do we do? Do we continue with these midnight screenings or premieres?’ “
And as with Columbine, a issues will emerge and prompt debate.
“I think there’ll be a reaction on what to do,” DeAngelis said. “Listening to some of the talk shows already, they’re talking about concealed weapons, should people take the law into their own hands. Anytime a shooting occurs, whether it be at a school or church or a movie theater, these questions come to the surface. What it does, I think, is make members of society realize how vulnerable we are — and how precious life is.
“Hopefully, we come together.”
On a personal level, DeAngelis noted another heart-wrenching similarity between the shootings.
Gateway High School in Aurora became the gathering area and clearinghouse for information on victims and survivors from the theater shootings. During the Columbine attack, Leawood Elementary in Jefferson County served such a role.
“That’s one of the lasting memories I have on that evening, when there were no longer buses bringing kids to reunite with parents,” he said. “There were several parents left, but no buses arriving. They realized there was a chance their child did not survive.”
