Columbine: Images of Tragedy

The Rocky Mountain News photography staff received the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography "for its powerful collection of emotional images taken after the student shootings at Columbine High School." The 20 award-winning images in this gallery are presented in the order submitted to the prize committee. Higher resolution images are available. Contact the Western History/Genealogy Department for more information.

Columbine High School shooting
photography
Pulitzer
Rocky Mountain News
Special Collections
Emergency workers treat wounded students during the Columbine shooting.
Dale Napoletano hugs his sister during a memorial service honoring Columbine's victims.
Fifteen crosses honoring the Columbine dead stand in the night glow.
A woman writes a derogatory message on Dylan Klebold's cross near Columbine.
Joan and Bill Cote of Franktown climb a hill in Clement Park after visiting memorials to the Columbine victims.
A mourner moves slowly past the casket of Isaiah Shoels at the Heritage Christian Center.
Columbine victim Valeen Schnurr acknowledges the cheers as she leaves the Fiddler's Green stage.
Investigators tackle the intricate task of marking evidence where gunmen entered the school.
Wracked with sorrow, Columbine students in Clement Park grieve at the car of Rachel Scott.
Rescue workers wheel a wounded student toward an ambulance.
Tears turn briefly to joy as teens watch classmates flee to safety.
A student just evacuated from the school is embraced by friends overjoyed she is safe.
Bloody shoes and socks lie outside the emergency room at St. Anthony Central Hospital.
A frantic parent trying to get through a roadblock during the Columbine shooting.
The morning after the shootings Justin Boggus led students in impromptu prayer and song.
A student lies on a sidewalk while an officer guards others behind a car.
Two anguished students embrace near the school early in the siege.
Students sprint across a parking lot toward school buses waiting to evacuate them.
Terrified students edge nervously up a hill against a wall of the school while police search for the gunmen.
Grief overcomes two Columbine students moments after fleeing a violent rampage.