Eric Harris: Difference between revisions

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One of Eric's aspirations was to join the Marines and he even took steps to apply, though his application was rejected shortly before the shooting, likely because he was taking the drug Luvox® (Fluvoxamine maleate) at the time, an SSRI antidepressant he was taking in connection with his anger management therapy. It's been theorized that Luvox's side-effects contributed to what happened - and indeed most anti-depressants are now cautioning that their use in teens can increase violent and/or suicidal thoughts. However, friends of Eric's told reporters that they believed he had stopped taking the drug shortly before the rampage. If so, this could have triggered an even more violent reaction as stopping any anti-depressant suddenly can enhance the negative side-effects. Doctors now know that anti-depressants taken by children and teens can increase depression and suicidal behavior -- Columbine was one of the first case studies that now have drug companies including warnings on their advertisements.

The autopsy states he had low therapeutic levels of Luvox in his system at the time of death. Luvox has a 'washout period' of about 14 days for a 60mg/day prescription. Typical Luvox therapy starts with 50mg/day dosage and progresses into high dosages of up to 300mg/day as needed. It's extremely reactive to other substances (alcohol, marijuana, prescriptions). Without knowing how long Eric was taking the drug before 4-20-99 and without knowing how much he was prescribed, it's hard to tell whether this low level of Luvox was because he was actively taking a low level of the drug or because he was in the process of taking himself off a high level of it.

The autopsy states he had low therapeutic levels of Luvox in his system at the time of death. Luvox has a 'washout period' of about 14 days for a 60mg/day prescription. Typical Luvox therapy starts with a 50mg/day dosage and progresses into high dosages of up to 300mg/day as needed. It's extremely reactive to other substances (alcohol, marijuana, prescriptions). Without knowing how long Eric was taking the drug before 4-20-99 and without knowing how much he was prescribed, it's hard to tell whether this low level of Luvox was because he was actively taking a low level of the drug or because he was in the process of taking himself off a high level of it.

Eric never got the message that he'd been denied as the recruiting officer was unable to reach Eric to let him know before the shootings occurred. However, Eric's mother had mentioned the drug while Eric was meeting with the recruiter so it's possible he may have assumed his chances were blown as he had not reported that he was taking an anti-depressant when he applied. Based on what his friends have said over the years, Eric believed he wouldn't be going into the armed service.

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Other websites Eric made included Jo Mamma (a page of 'jo mamma' jokes that aren't supposed to be funny, created by REB [Eric], VoDKa [Dylan] and KiBBz [Zack Heckler]), another WBS page of KMFDM lyrics and the more explicit and threatening website on AOL that contained the spew regarding Brooks Brown and shooting up Littleton. Brooks' parents saw the website (tipped off to them by Dylan Klebold, ironically) and filed a police report.

Days after the Browns reported the internet threats to the police that Eric began keeping a diary of plans to attack Columbine on April 19, 1999. It wasn't till the week-of that they changed plans suddenly to the 20th. It's been speculated that they originally planned to attack on the 19th to coincide with the anniversaries of both the Oklahoma bombing and the government fiasco in Waco but no one really knows for sure why they chose the date they did, in the end.

Days after the Browns reported the internet threats to the police that Eric began keeping a diary of plans to attack Columbine on April 19, 1999. It wasn't till the week-off that they changed plans suddenly to the 20th. It's been speculated that they originally planned to attack on the 19th to coincide with the anniversaries of both the Oklahoma bombing and the government fiasco in Waco but no one really knows for sure why they chose the date they did, in the end.

The "graphic content" from Eric's websites that was spoken of so fearfully by the media at the time referred primarily to images of characters straight from Doom II's screen. The "demonic pictures" in his notebook that were so shocking? More Doom pics. The horned guy is one of the Doom II bosses/gods. Eric kept a lot of Doom and Quake graphics on his AOL website as well but far scarier than Eric's gaming sites were the rants he dumped onto his homepage about hating the world at large: Everyone in it, not just jocks or blacks or whites or rich people... Everyone.

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 One of Eric's aspirations was to join the Marines and he even took steps to apply, though his application was rejected shortly before the shooting, likely because he was taking the drug Luvox® (Fluvoxamine maleate) at the time, an SSRI antidepressant he was taking in connection with his anger management therapy. It's been theorized that Luvox's side-effects contributed to what happened - and indeed most anti-depressants are now cautioning that their use in teens can increase violent and/or suicidal thoughts. However, friends of Eric's told reporters that they believed he had stopped taking the drug shortly before the rampage. If so, this could have triggered an even more violent reaction as stopping any anti-depressant suddenly can enhance the negative side-effects. Doctors now know that anti-depressants taken by children and teens can increase depression and suicidal behavior -- Columbine was one of the first case studies that now have drug companies including warnings on their advertisements.
-The autopsy states he had low therapeutic levels of Luvox in his system at the time of death. Luvox has a 'washout period' of about 14 days for a 60mg/day prescription. Typical Luvox therapy starts with 50mg/day dosage and progresses into high dosages of up to 300mg/day as needed. It's extremely reactive to other substances (alcohol, marijuana, prescriptions). Without knowing how long Eric was taking the drug before 4-20-99 and without knowing how much he was prescribed, it's hard to tell whether this low level of Luvox was because he was actively taking a low level of the drug or because he was in the process of taking himself off a high level of it.
+The autopsy states he had low therapeutic levels of Luvox in his system at the time of death. Luvox has a 'washout period' of about 14 days for a 60mg/day prescription. Typical Luvox therapy starts with a 50mg/day dosage and progresses into high dosages of up to 300mg/day as needed. It's extremely reactive to other substances (alcohol, marijuana, prescriptions). Without knowing how long Eric was taking the drug before 4-20-99 and without knowing how much he was prescribed, it's hard to tell whether this low level of Luvox was because he was actively taking a low level of the drug or because he was in the process of taking himself off a high level of it.
 Eric never got the message that he'd been denied as the recruiting officer was unable to reach Eric to let him know before the shootings occurred. However, Eric's mother had mentioned the drug while Eric was meeting with the recruiter so it's possible he may have assumed his chances were blown as he had not reported that he was taking an anti-depressant when he applied. Based on what his friends have said over the years, Eric believed he wouldn't be going into the armed service.
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 Other websites Eric made included Jo Mamma (a page of 'jo mamma' jokes that aren't supposed to be funny, created by REB [Eric], VoDKa [Dylan] and KiBBz [Zack Heckler]), another WBS page of KMFDM lyrics and the more explicit and threatening website on AOL that contained the spew regarding Brooks Brown and shooting up Littleton. Brooks' parents saw the website (tipped off to them by Dylan Klebold, ironically) and filed a police report.
-Days after the Browns reported the internet threats to the police that Eric began keeping a diary of plans to attack Columbine on April 19, 1999. It wasn't till the week-of that they changed plans suddenly to the 20th. It's been speculated that they originally planned to attack on the 19th to coincide with the anniversaries of both the Oklahoma bombing and the government fiasco in Waco but no one really knows for sure why they chose the date they did, in the end.
+Days after the Browns reported the internet threats to the police that Eric began keeping a diary of plans to attack Columbine on April 19, 1999. It wasn't till the week-off that they changed plans suddenly to the 20th. It's been speculated that they originally planned to attack on the 19th to coincide with the anniversaries of both the Oklahoma bombing and the government fiasco in Waco but no one really knows for sure why they chose the date they did, in the end.
 The "graphic content" from Eric's websites that was spoken of so fearfully by the media at the time referred primarily to images of characters straight from Doom II's screen. The "demonic pictures" in his notebook that were so shocking? More Doom pics. The horned guy is one of the Doom II bosses/gods. Eric kept a lot of Doom and Quake graphics on his AOL website as well but far scarier than Eric's gaming sites were the rants he dumped onto his homepage about hating the world at large: Everyone in it, not just jocks or blacks or whites or rich people... Everyone.