Mass shooter's mom prayed for son's suicide - Denver

The mother of Columbine shooter, Dylan Klebold prayed for her son to commit suicide when she became aware that her son had carried out the mass shooting at his school in April 1999.

DENVER, CO (Catholic Online) - In a story run by Reuters, the mother of Dylan Klebold said in a book interview that she wished her son had committed suicide after shooting his classmates. The book, which was published in November, was written by Andrew Solomon and titled, "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for identity."

Sue Klebold told Solomon that when police informed her that her son was a suspect, she prayed for her son to commit suicide. She said she was afraid of what might become of him if he had lived.

"And so while every other mother in Littleton was praying that her child was safe, I had to pray that mine would die before he hurt anyone else," she told Solomon.

Dylan Klebold teamed up with a friend, Eric Harris, and murdered 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. The boys were 17 and 18 respectively.

Klebold said she was worried her son would be tried and executed.

The Klebold family has largely avoided the media following the shootings, but each new mass shooting brings back memories of Columbine to the public psyche. Before Columbine, there had been mass shootings, but never at a children's school.

Last week, a young man, Adam Lanza, went on a rampage and murdered 26 others, mostly children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut before turning a gun on himself. He also murdered his mother before going on his rampage.

The shooting brings public spotlight to the plight of the parents of such infamous killers.

For her part, Sue Kleblod has been criticized for her comments regarding her son. Victim's parents have spoken out against her interview as speaking only for her feelings and not acknowledging the pain of the victim's families.

However, the depth of a mother's despair, so great that she wishes her own son dead, cannot, and should not be trivialized.

Nothing should trivialize the impact of a mother's grief.

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