Columbine victim's brother makes her message his own - On the 10th Anniversary
August 28, 2009
Craig Scott, 16, was in the Columbine High School library in April 1999, when a teacher ran in, frantic about two students shooting classmates. Scott took cover under a table with his friends Isaiah and Matt.
Soon enough, the shooters were in the library. From under his table, Scott watched the pair go from table to table, mocking the hiding students, then shooting them. When one of the shooters got to Scott's table, he stopped and called over to the other."Hey, there is a nigger over here," he said, referring to Isaiah. They shot Isaiah first. Then Matt.
"I thought I was next," Scott recalled yesterday, "but then they walked away." Scott escaped only to learn that his 17-year-old sister, Rachel Scott, was the first of the 13 people killed that day.
Scott, now 24, will never know why he was spared, but he's found reason to live. He tours the country for "Rachel's Challenge," a nonprofit started by his father that promotes school safety - not by advocating for metal detectors and locked schools, but by challenging students and teachers to live more compassionate lives.
Rachel Scott's legacy in her few years propelled her family to challenge the rest of us. This interview with Craig Scott who was there and saw his friends gunned down, only to discover that his sister had been killed as well, is powerful and thought provoking. Darrell Scott's speech puts it all in perspective.
These folks are not milk toast believers who spout Christian slogans.
The circumstances of their lives have compelled them to think deeply and struggle earnestly with the issues of life, death, and redemption.