The Parents of Columbine Shooter Eric Harris Later Realized They Never Actually Knew Their Son (2024)

On the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, NBC News took a hard look at one of the shooters. It was widely accepted that Eric Harris was the more dominant person in the friendship he had with Dylan Klebold, the other shooter. While speaking with the outlet, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a psychiatry professor at Michigan State University, said he believed Harris was in all likelihood a psychopath. "He showed very little conscience," said Dr. Ochberg.

According to the Washington Post, Harris was in therapy and had been taking an antidepressant called Luvox. Despite a few minor hiccups that Wayne and Kathy Harris attributed to the follies of youth, Harris appeared to be fine. It was later discovered that Harris's rage lived entirely online and, in particular, on his own website. After the shooting, people would wonder how Wayne and Kathy missed the amorphous signs of their son's decline. Where are Eric Harris's parents now? Here's what we know.

Where are Eric Harris's parents now?

Wayne and Kathy have maintained private lives since the tragedy. The only time they appeared to have addressed what happened in the years since it occurred, is when they agreed to meet with the parents of one of the victims in 2010. The Daily Beast spoke with Tom and Linda Mauser about the experience. Their son Daniel was shot in the hand by Harris. After throwing a chair in self-defense, Harris fired another bullet into Daniel's face killing him instantly.

The Harrises did not speak with the outlet about this encounter, but Linda Mauser provided her impressions of the meeting. The conversation was spearheaded by Wayne, a retired Air Force major. Linda described his demeanor as exact which echoed years of being in the military. Both he and Kathy had "accepted that Eric was a psychopath," and admitted to not understanding how he came to be that way. Like many others, they too were fooled by their son.

Despite not knowing the severity of his mental illness, the Harrises told the Mausers that they tried to help their youngest child. He was evaluated by psychologists who didn't see any red flags in Harris's behavior. After he and Klebold were arrested for attempting to steal a van in January 1998, both boys were sent to a "juvenile diversion program, which involved close monitoring and various forms of restitution." That was the only time his antics gave the Harrises pause.

At one point, Wayne was careful to mention that Kathy was a good mother and by all accounts, she was. When Harris got behind on his court-ordered community service, she made sure he finished. She also expressed concern over her son's lack of college plans and his overall apathy towards his own future. When the topic of abuse came up, the Harrises said they never hit their son. At the end of the conversation, Linda Mauser told them she forgave Eric and felt no ill will toward the Harrises.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold spoke about their parents in the infamous "basem*nt tapes."

In 2015, Colorado law enforcement officials destroyed what came to be known as the "basem*nt tapes," reported the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. These tapes were comprised of four hours of footage filmed in the weeks leading up to the shooting. In them, Klebold and Harris laid out their plans. They romanticized what would happen afterwards, and even discussed which directors would make a movie about their crimes. Transcripts of these recordings still exist.

They both mock their parents' possible reactions to the shootings. "If only we would have searched their room," said Harris. "If only we would have asked the right questions." That's precisely what both the Klebolds and Harrises thought. Then Harris's mood shifts as he recalls his mother buying him the occasional snack. "I really am sorry about this," he whispered in a rare moment of kindness. He then added that his parents made mistakes they didn't know about.

In one tape, Harris sits alone in his room and expresses concern for his parents. He's worried the world will be hard on them. "My parents are the best f-----g parents I have ever known," he said. "My dad is great. I wish I was a f-----g sociopath so I didn't have any remorse, but I do. This is going to tear them apart. They will never forget it ... No one is to blame except me and Vodka [Dylan's nickname]. Our actions are a two-man war against everyone else." Who knows if that sentiment brought his parents more peace or grief.