DENVER (KDVR) — Anne Marie Hochhalter, a survivor of the Columbine Excessive College mass taking pictures, died Sunday, her former principal Frank DeAngelis instructed FOX31 on Monday.
Hochhalter was shot and paralyzed in the course of the tragedy on April 20, 1999, and used a wheelchair within the 25 years since. In the course of the bloodbath, two Twelfth-grade college students shot and killed 12 college students and one trainer, then killed themselves. One other 21 individuals have been injured by the gunfire.
Hochhalter spoke out in 2016 in assist of the mom of one of many shooters who launched a e book reflecting on the mass taking pictures, particularly regarding her relationship with grief and battles with disgrace.
Hochhalter wrote on the time in a prolonged Fb put up that she wasn’t certain she would ever learn the e book, however mentioned she had forgiven the mass assassin’s mom.
In 2012, Hochhalter additionally spoke publically in assist of the households and survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary Taking pictures in Newton, Connecticut.
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Columbine Excessive College taking pictures survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter reacts throughout a vigil remembering the twenty fifth anniversary of the mass taking pictures, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photograph/Jack Dempsey) -
Anne Marie Hochhalter, 30, middle, and her good friend Roxy Chesser, 30, proper, attend a prayer vigil, Sunday, July 22, 2012, held to recollect the misplaced and injured in Friday’s mass taking pictures at a movie show, on the Aurora Municipal Heart in Aurora, Colo. Hochhalter, a paralyzed sufferer of the Columbine Excessive College tragedy over 12 years in the past, and different survivors of the 1999 bloodbath reached out to individuals who survived the theater taking pictures. (AP Photograph/Barry Gutierrez)
“I actually hope the great tales will come out and present a group can come collectively identical to Littleton did after Columbine,” Hochhalter mentioned. “I really feel sort of helpless after I hear about this stuff and I need to assist, I simply don’t actually understand how.”
Her brother, Nathan, spoke throughout a 2024 memorial occasion about being trapped in a classroom with about 30 college students whereas listening to gunfire close by. After 4 hours, SWAT officers rescued them, Nathan mentioned. His mom took her personal life six months after the taking pictures.
“I simply need to use this second to let everybody know that it’s OK to ask for assist, no matter your scenario is whether or not, both as a survivor 25 years later or somebody combating any a part of their life. These items are available in waves, they usually can hit you whenever you least count on it. It is best to all know that we’re all right here for you and that you simply’re not alone,” Nathan mentioned.
