The Long Path to Healing after Columbine

April 20, 2019 marks twenty years since tragedy struck Littleton, Colorado.

That morning, two students opened fire at Columbine High School, killing 13 people and themselves.

While then-sophomore Lauren Cartaya escaped the school quickly, her older brother Zach was stuck inside the building with many of his classmates – hiding in an empty classroom.

Two decades later, the Cartaya siblings came to StoryCorps to remember the day that changed both of their lives.

Top photo: The Cartaya family photographed by Life Magazine after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Courtesy of Ray Ng.

Bottom photo: Zach Cartaya and Lauren Cartaya at their StoryCorps interview in Littleton, CO in March 2019. By Kevin Oliver for StoryCorps.

Originally aired April 19, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.