Lessons learned from Columbine shooting: Retired Principal Presentation

Frank DeAngelis, the retired principal of Columbine High School, will be in Sudbury on April 11.

DeAngelis faced an unimaginable situation in 1999 when two students opened fire at his school in Colorado.

"When I heard my secretary screaming that there was gunfire, I’m saying 'no, this can’t be happening. This has to be a senior prank.' And that is the one common denominator when I do go out helping people, not only within our own country but internationally. First thing they say is 'Frank, I can’t believe it happened here,' and I said those same words 23 years ago," he said.

He will deliver a special presentation for the community on April 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Caruso Club and virtually through Zoom.

"What I hope to do is come up there and share that no matter what happens you know there’s life afterward and how that recovery piece has helped," DeAngelis said.
"And not only with that, I think it's so important now, is I talk about the fact that back when Columbine happened, the enemy was the two shooters. But right now, what people (have) been dealing with is the pandemic and there are a lot of similarities on the recovery piece, taking care of yourself."

More than 20 years after the shooting, DeAngelis offers timely strategies, coping mechanisms and messages of hope as he connects his traumatic experience to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As far as children, I talk a lot about what they’re going through with hybrid learning and things of that nature and when we came back after the shooting, we had to retrain our teachers how to teach. Very similar to what is happening now around the country, around the world, is the social-emotional learning and the impact of that two and a half years has had on the students. And so that recovery piece and then dealing with situations of people dying from COVID and I think my story, if I can summarize it, would be time to remember but a time for hope," he said.

The presentation, being hosted by the Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) steering committee, will be of special interest to first responders, health care staff, educators, social workers, mental health personnel and parents/guardians.

"We thought it would be a really good idea for Frank to come and tell his story because what we’ve started is the trauma advanced systems training. So back in 2010, we started with violence threat risk assessment. We’ve trained over 1,000 people in our area to address if there’s an individual whose baseline has shifted and they're on a pathway towards violence," said Anna Barsanti, of the Violence Threat Risk Assessment Steering Committee.

Contact Anna Barsanti at  To register for the in-person session contact Anna Barsanti by email for further information.