S5|E7 Columbine School Shooting: Principal Frank DeAngelis on the Day That Changed Everything

Following the five-part crossover between Watching Two Detectives and Stop the Killing, we are sharing another standout conversation from the Stop the Killing archive.

On April 20, 1999, two students arrived at Columbine High School intending to bomb the school. When their bombs failed, they opened fire.

At the time, 12 students and one teacher were killed. In February 2025, Columbine survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter died from complications linked to the gunshot wounds she sustained during the attack. Her death was later ruled a homicide, bringing the recognised death toll to 13 students and one teacher — 14 victims in total.

In this episode, Sarah Ferris and Katherine Schweit speak with Frank DeAngelis, the former principal of Columbine High School.

Frank takes us back inside the school on the day of the attack and shares what it was like to lead a community through unimaginable violence, grief and trauma.

But this conversation is about far more than the events of April 20.

Frank explains how the impact of a school shooting continues long after the emergency vehicles, investigators and television cameras leave. The psychological wounds spread through students, teachers, families, first responders and the wider community — and for many, those wounds last a lifetime.

He also reflects on the responsibility he felt toward the Columbine community, the promises he made to the families and why his role did not simply end when he retired as principal.

This is a conversation about leadership, survivor guilt, recovery, school safety and the human consequences that cannot be measured by casualty numbers alone.

It is also a reminder that behind every statistic is a person, a family and a life forever altered.

Let’s Be FrankFrank discusses school security, hardening targets and why safety measures can go too far when they begin to change schools from welcoming places into fortresses:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/stop-the-killing/id1585146489?i=1000669832290