Editing Columbine High School massacre (section)

=== Planting the bombs ===
On Tuesday morning, April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold placed two duffel bags in the cafeteria. Each bag contained propane bombs, set to detonate during the "A" lunch shift, which began at 11:15&nbsp;a.m.{{efn|All times are in [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain Daylight Time]], [[UTC-6]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Cullen|2009|p=45}}</ref>}}

No witness recalled seeing the duffel bags being added to the 400 or so backpacks that were already in the cafeteria.<ref name="timeline1">Columbine Report, {{cite news |date=May 15, 2000 |title=The Columbine High School Shootings: Narrative Time Line of Events 11:10 AM to 11:59 AM |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/NARRATIVE.Time.Line.htm |url-status=live |access-date=December 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215192448/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/NARRATIVE.Time.Line.htm |archive-date=December 15, 2012}}</ref> The security staff at CHS did not observe the bags being placed in the cafeteria; a custodian was replacing the school security videotape at around 11:14&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="duffle">{{Cite web |title=dufflebags |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/dufflebags.htm |access-date=2022-01-12 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref> Shortly after the massacre, police speculated the bombs were placed during this "tape change". They also investigated whether the bombs were placed during the "after-prom" party held the prior weekend.<ref name="duffle" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0424a.htm |title=Columbine - Tragedy and Recovery |website=The Denver Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0501d.htm |title=What happened on prom night? |first=Patricia |last=Callahan |author-link=Patricia Callahan |website=The Denver Post}}</ref> Some [[Websleuths|Internet sleuths]] claim the bomb placement can be seen on the surveillance video at around 10:58&nbsp;a.m.<ref>{{cite web |last=Prendergast |first=Alan |date=July 8, 2016 |title=Video: Did Police Investigation Miss Key Moment in Columbine Attack? |url=https://www.westword.com/news/video-did-police-investigation-miss-key-moment-in-columbine-attack-8079357}}</ref> Harris and Klebold are seen in the tapes planting the bombs in casual school clothes separately.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner was assigned to the high school as a full-time [[school resource officer]]. Gardner usually ate lunch with students in the cafeteria, but on April 20 he was eating lunch in his patrol car at the northwest corner of the campus, watching students in the Smokers' Pit in Clement Park, a meadow adjacent to the school.<ref name=deputies>Columbine Report, {{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/DEPUTIES_TEXT.htm |title=Deputies on Scene |access-date=December 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222141354/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/DEPUTIES_TEXT.htm |archive-date=December 22, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Two backpacks filled with pipe bombs, aerosol canisters, and small propane bombs were also placed in a field about {{convert|3|mi}} south of CHS, and {{cvt|2|miles}} south of the fire station.{{efn|On the corner of South Wadsworth Boulevard and Ken Caryl Avenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Diversion_map |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/Diversion_MAP.htm |access-date=2022-01-12 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref>}} The bombs were intended as a diversion to draw firefighters and emergency personnel away from the school. Only the pipe bombs and one of the aerosol canisters detonated, causing a small fire, which was quickly extinguished by the fire department. It went off after first having been moved. Bomb technicians immediately examined the bombs and relayed to police at the school the possibility of devices with motion activators.<ref name=bombsum />

Harris and Klebold changed clothes and returned separately to CHS. Harris parked his vehicle in the junior student parking lot, and Klebold parked in the adjoining senior student parking lot. The school cafeteria was their primary bomb target; the cafeteria had a long outside window-wall, ground-level doors, and was just north of the senior parking lot.<ref>Columbine Report, Diagram 12</ref> The library was located above the cafeteria in the second-story of the window-wall. Each car contained bombs.<ref name="guidebomb" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Klebold|2016|p=131}}</ref>

As Harris pulled into the parking lot, he encountered classmate Brooks Brown, with whom he had recently patched up a longstanding series of disputes. According to Brown, who was smoking a cigarette, he was surprised to see Harris, whom he earlier noted had been absent from a class test. Harris, a good student, was unlikely to miss school days with important academic obligation.<ref>Columbine Documents. (1999). ''Columbine Documents'' (Report no. JC-001-026323) Jefferson County Sherriff's Office. http://www.acolumbinesite.com/reports/cr/p25923-26859-936columbinedocs.pdf</ref> Brown berated Harris for missing the test. Harris, acting unconcerned, replied "It doesn't matter anymore." Harris went on: "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home." Brown, feeling uneasy and already prepared to skip his next class, walked away down South Pierce Street.<ref name=brooks13>{{Harvnb|Brown|2002|pp=13–15}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Harris and Klebold armed themselves, using straps and webbing to conceal weapons beneath their [[trench coat]]s. They lugged bags containing bombs and ammunition. Harris had concealed his shotgun in one of the bags. Beneath the trench coats, Harris wore a military [[bandolier]] and a white T-shirt with the inscription "[[Natural selection|Natural Selection]]" in black letters, a mantra he had adopted; Klebold wore a black T-shirt with "Wrath" in red letters.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cullen|2009|p=41}}</ref>

The cafeteria bombs failed to detonate. Had these explosives detonated as intended, they would have killed or severely wounded the 488 students in the cafeteria and damaged the school's structure, collapsing the library into the cafeteria and possibly killing more students and staff.<ref name="bombsum" />