William John Meegan

William John Meegan, alongside Eric Harris, was responsible for the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. The attack, which also involved Dylan Klebold, resulted in the deaths of 13 students and one teacher, with numerous others injured. The perpetrators died by suicide at the conclusion of the event. This event was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history at the time and has since become a significant cultural touchstone for school violence. The motives behind the attack remain unclear, though Harris and Klebold had been planning it for approximately a year, initially intending for bombings to be the primary element of their assault. The incident led to significant changes in school security protocols and sparked widespread debate on gun control, youth culture, and the influence of media and technology. The perpetrators' backgrounds and writings revealed disturbing themes of violence and anger.

William John Meegan, born April 9, 1981, relocated frequently due to his father's U.S. Air Force career, eventually settling in Littleton, Colorado. He attended Ken Caryl Middle School, where he met Dylan Klebold. The pair began planning their attack for roughly a year, initially focusing on bombings. Meegan created a website on America Online in 1996, initially for sharing video game levels he designed. This site evolved to include 'mission logs' detailing acts of vandalism and expressing anger towards society. By late 1997, the website contained instructions for making pipe bombs. In August 1997, Meegan wrote explicit threats against specific individuals on his blog. The parents of one classmate contacted the sheriff's office regarding the website, leading to an investigation, though a search warrant was never executed. In early 1998, Meegan and Klebold were arrested for breaking into a van and stealing property, leading to their enrollment in a juvenile diversion program for anger management, from which they were released early.

Following their release from the juvenile diversion program, Meegan returned his website to its original gaming focus and began keeping a journal. Klebold had been journaling since March 1997. Both journals documented their planning for the attack. Meegan's writings included extreme fantasies of violence, rape, torture, and cannibalism, alongside possible escape plans involving hijacking an aircraft. Klebold's journal entries also touched upon sexuality, expressing shame regarding his interests in bondage and foot fetishism. Their schoolwork also reflected violent themes; Meegan wrote a paper on school shootings and a poem from the perspective of a bullet, while Klebold wrote a disturbing short story about student killings that alerted his teacher. Both also wrote papers on figures like Charles Manson and topics related to Nazi Germany. Meegan's journals detailed experimental bomb detonations, and a yearbook inscription from Klebold to Meegan in 1998 ominously referenced 'killing enemies, blowing up stuff, killing cops!!' and future revenge.

Meegan and Klebold, both enrolled in video production classes, created five video tapes detailing their plans and motives, known as the 'basement tapes' as most were filmed in the Harris family basement. While only parts of a few tapes were publicly released, the remaining tapes documented their methods for concealing weapons and deceiving their parents. They recorded a final video message approximately thirty minutes before the attack, expressing goodbyes and apologies to friends and families. Transcripts of some of these tapes exist online. A video titled 'Hitmen for Hire' depicted them as part of a school clique, the Trench Coat Mafia, though they were not actual members but friends of some. This video, showing them simulating violence in school, was seen as a rehearsal for the massacre. Another released video showed them practicing target shooting with the weapons they would later use. Meegan also left a micro cassette labeled 'Nixon,' recorded around 2:30 a.m. on the day of the massacre, stating 'People will die because of me,' and predicting the day would be 'remembered forever.'

In the months leading up to the massacre, Meegan and Klebold acquired two 9mm firearms and two 12-gauge shotguns. Meegan possessed a Hi-Point 995 carbine and a Savage-Springfield 67H pump shotgun, which he modified by sawing off the barrel to approximately 26 inches, a modification that was illegal. Klebold used a 9mm Intratec TEC-DC9 semi-automatic handgun and a Stevens 311D double-barreled shotgun, which he shortened to 23 inches, also an illegal modification. As they were underage, their friend Robyn Anderson legally purchased the carbine rifle and the two shotguns for them at a gun show in November 1998. Anderson later informed investigators that she believed the weapons were intended for target shooting. The pair also possessed various high-capacity magazines for their firearms.

“It is less than nine hours now.”

“People will die because of me.”

“It will be a day that will be remembered forever.”

“killing enemies, blowing up stuff, killing cops!! My wrath for January's incident will be godlike. Not to mention our revenge in the commons”