Prying eyes keep wounds fresh

Many people in Littleton just want to be out of the media spotlight | Lynn Vincent

First came the firestorm that left 14 students and a teacher dead. Then came the media glare that scorched Littleton, Colo., and its residents like a never-setting sun.

Neither, it seems, will go away.

On April 20 last year, Columbine High School juniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold gunned down 12 classmates and a teacher, then shot themselves, in the worst school shooting in U.S. history. More than a year later, some Littleton residents say unceasing media attention, in part at least, is keeping the town from healing.

"More than anybody, the (Columbine) students have desperately tried to take steps forward, but the media have been very relentless with them," said Mike Lawrie, a youth pastor at Littleton's Deer Creek Community Church where between 10 and 15 Columbine kids have regularly attended youth group since the tragedy occurred. Mr. Lawrie feels reporters' continuing quest for "stories" (even stories like this one), and the pressure on survivors to grant interviews, "keeps tearing the wound back open. A year ago, the hope was that we would be able to move on-not forget, but take steps forward. People are now coming to the conclusion that it's not going to end."