On April 20, 1999, William 'Dave' Sanders, a 47-year-old male teacher, found himself in the midst of a terrifying assault at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. When the sound of gunfire first echoed through the school, Sanders, a computer and business teacher as well as a coach, immediately took action. He ran to the crowded cafeteria and alerted hundreds of students to the danger, urging them to get down and then guiding them to safety. His swift and selfless actions are credited with saving countless lives that day.
As he continued to help students evacuate, Sanders was tragically shot from behind by one of the assailants. Wounded, he made his way to a science classroom where he and a group of students and another teacher took refuge. For hours, the students tried desperately to save him, using their shirts to apply pressure to his wounds. They placed a sign in the window that read '1 BLEEDING TO DEATH' in an effort to attract help. Despite their efforts, Sanders' injuries were too severe, and he ultimately bled to death. His last words were reported to be, 'Tell my family I love them.'
The perpetrators of this horrific act were identified as two senior students, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold. The pair had meticulously planned the attack, which they intended to be primarily a bombing. When their homemade bombs failed to detonate, they began a shooting rampage throughout the school, killing 12 students and one teacher, Dave Sanders, before taking their own lives in the school library. There were no arrests of the primary suspects as they were deceased. However, investigations following the massacre led to the arrest and conviction of two men, Mark Manes and Philip Duran, who had supplied a handgun to the underage shooters.
