S chool Violence: Since the Columbine killings, there's been a special focus on depictions of adolescents committing mayhem in school.

The film was still fresh in the public memory when the Columbine killings occurred, and the trench-coated DiCaprio, seen gunning people down, elicited harsh protests.

He said that he approached all of the American broadcast networks to make a film right after the Columbine killings.

Ms. Zeinoun, the English teacher, said the Columbine killings had created a renewed sense of community and inclusiveness.

Similarly, The Economist said: "The Columbine killings of 1999 failed to provoke any shift in Americans' attitudes to guns.

Mr. Davis, the sheriff's spokesman, said that many of the investigators at the sandwich shop had worked on the Columbine killings last year.

On three occasions in the month before the Columbine killings, the lawyer said, Mr. Manes went up "into the mountains" with the two youths to fire automatic weapons.

"Mark did not know this was going to happen," Mr. Ransome said of the Columbine killings.

"Now, here's how I read it," he went on, talking about the young men responsible for the Columbine killings.

Others have asserted that the Columbine killings could have been prevented, or at least reduced if teachers or guards were armed with guns.