LITTLETON, Colo. — Community members in suburban Denver marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting Saturday by cleaning neighborhoods, volunteering at shelters, placing flowers at a memorial and attending a remembrance ceremony.
The events end a three-day slate of somber gatherings honoring the victims and lending support to their families, survivors of the April 20, 1999, attack and the school’s students and staff.
Starting Saturday morning, a steady stream of visitors stopped at a memorial that sits on a hill overlooking the school. The site includes an oval outer wall of stone with plaques featuring quotes from officials and Columbine students and teachers, and an inner ring with plaques for the teacher and 12 students killed.
People walked silently through, occasionally stopping to hug a friend or wipe away tears.
Sharon and David Hampton brought white roses to place at the memorial, which opened to the public in 2007. They have lived in the area for more than 30 years and watched three sons graduate from Columbine.
None were enrolled at the time of the massacre; Sharon Hampton was a preschool teacher at a nearby elementary school. On Saturday, she wore a black T-shirt reading “Be kind,” a message she wants people to remember on the Columbine anniversary.
“Take time,” she said, as tears came to her eyes. “We all face challenges. Try to understand. We can lean into that each day and help one another.”
Other visitors left cards, bouquets and seed packets for columbines, the Colorado state flower, around the plaques.
Elsewhere, Columbine students, staff and others took part in community service projects, including volunteering at homeless shelters and doing spring cleaning at the homes of senior citizens and elsewhere.
People later gathered for a remembrance ceremony. Speakers stressed the strength and change that came out of the tragedy. To symbolize that, artist Makoto Fujimura presented a 17th century Japanese tea bowl that was broken but then mended with gold, making it better and more beautiful.
Pastor James Hoxworth urged anyone who was still struggling because of the shooting to reach out for help.
The days surrounding the anniversary remain emotionally fraught for survivors of the attack, including hundreds who escaped the building without physical wounds. Some describe their response to the month as an “April fog,” dominated by their memories of the day two decades ago that shocked the world.