Columbine survivor Craig Scott spoke out this week in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting to urge Americans to create a more compassionate culture in which mass shootings and other acts of violence no longer unfold.
Scott was inside the Columbine High School library in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, when two student gunmen entered the high school and murdered 12 of their fellow students, one teacher and themselves.
He recounted his own experience as a survivor, explaining that two of his friends were killed right next to him before he and other students quickly fled the library to safety.
“I barely escaped. I felt I heard God speak to me and tell me to get out of the library,” he said during a Sunday night episode of “Pure Talk,” a show brought to you by Faithwire and Pure Flix. “I feel like God saved my life … if we had stayed in there minutes longer, more of us would have been killed.”
Watch him recount these events below:
The panel is joined by Craig Scott, Columbine shooting survivor and brother of Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim of the 1999 shooting. Her story is told in the film "I'm Not Ashamed." Watch it here: https://offers.pureflix.com/im-not-ashamed-trailer
Posted by Pure Flix on Sunday, October 8, 2017
Tragically, Scott’s sister, Rachel Joy Scott, was the first person killed at Columbine. Before shooting her, one of them asked, “Do you still believe in God?” to which she responded affirmatively.
Nearly 20 years after the tragedy, Scott is still sharing his sister’s story as well as a challenge to America’s young generation to step out in compassion and help others.
READ: Her Daughter Was Murdered at Columbine. Now, She Reveals Why She Chose Forgiveness.
Scott is routinely called upon in the wake of shootings and other acts of violence and encourages people of all ages to “be a light” to others who might be facing darkness in their lives.
“When these dark things happen, it can be a reminder to us of what’s important, how we treat other people,” he said, adding that something must culturally change in America. “Legislation and laws don’t change peoples’ hearts.”
In the end, Scott said we must create “atmosphere of love, compassion [and] kindness” and “a culture where these things don’t happen.”