Coloradans mark 20th anniversary of a dark day: Columbine shooting

It has been 20 years since two heavily armed young men in dark trenchcoats entered a Colorado high school and launched a bloody attack that seared the word "Columbine" into the American psyche, forever transforming the debate on gun rights and school violence.

At a memorial service Saturday to mark the anniversary of the massacre in Littleton, Colorado -- in which teenaged shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 Columbine High School students and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves -- there were reflections on grief, loss and healing.

"While time may lessen the intensity of the trauma, the incredible memories still remain," said former Columbine principal Ron Mitchell. "The strength and resilience of this community has given us hope."
"Right after Columbine, people wanted to be better people," Dawn Anna, mother of 18-year-old victim Lauren Townsend, told The Denver Post. "There was a real change in people's attitudes."