'Forever In Our Hearts': 23 Years After Tragedy, Columbine High School Shooting Victims Remembered
(CBS4) - Twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School were killed 23 years ago, and Coloradans everywhere are taking a moment to honor those lives we'll never forget.
Students at the school reflect every year and participate in service projects on this day. This year's project was at the Mountain Vista Senior Living Facility and more than 1,000 students took part.
"We're trying to turn a tragedy into a positive, the tragedy of April 20 and now we're trying to turn it into a positive to teach the kids about the tragedy but also turn it into something that we can give back to the community," said Columbine High School baseball coach Lee Martin.
Seventy students participated in the project of repairing and painting a fence on Wednesday morning. Gov. Jared Polis encourages all Coloradans to do some sort of act of kindness to honor the victims.
Included in the many paying tribute on social media to the victims on Wednesday was the high school's football program, which sent out a tweet saying "Never Forgotten. Always in our hearts."
The nearby Douglas County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook "Take a moment to remember those 13 souls taken so tragically 23 years go today. We mourn with the entire Columbine and Jefferson County communities. We will never forget! #AlwaysColumbine"
The Colorado State Patrol also shared a photo on Facebook of a columbine flower, writing "Forever remembered. Forever in our hearts."
The victims were killed on April 20, 1999, when the gunmen opened fire inside that school in Jefferson County. Their names are as follows:
Cassie Bernall
Steven Curnow
Corey DePooter
Kelly Fleming
Matthew Kechter
Daniel Mauser
Daniel Rohrbough
Dave Sanders
Rachel Scott
Isaiah Shoels
John Tomlin
Lauren Townsend
Kyle Velasquez
A total of 24 other people were injured.
"Today, and every day, we mourn the Coloradans whose lives were taken too soon at Columbine High School," Gov. Jared Polis wrote on Facebook.
A memorial for the victims stands in Clement Park located behind Columbine High School.
The official Littleton government Facebook page shared ways people can support organizations that are helping to preserve the victims' memories.
