USA TODAY
WASHINGTON It took just a few seconds Saturday night for America’s Pastime to mix with one of America’s chronic ills.
And those chaotic few moments just before 9:30 p.m. in the nation’s capital, when baseball and gun violence found themselves intertwined, did far more than suspend the Washington Nationals-San Diego Padres game after a volley of gunfire outside Nationals Park wounded three, including a woman who attended the game.
It certainly revealed the very best in the fans who attended the game, the security staff that kept them calm as shots rang out but chaos was minimized, and the players and coaches of the Padres and Nationals, who welcomed strangers into the sanctum of their dugout and clubhouses in the name of safety.
Only weeks before they opened fire on classmates at Colorado s Columbine High School, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were described as teenagers with bright futures, according to reports prepared by the probation officer assigned to work with the youths following their 1998 arrest for breaking into a car.
After pleading guilty to trespass, theft, and criminal mischief, the teens entered a juvenile diversion program requiring them to perform community service, attend various classes, and submit to drug testing. Harris, though not Klebold, also had to attend anger management classes.
In these eerie Jefferson County District Court records, prepared when the teenagers completed the program in early-February, a diversion officer (whose name has been redacted by court officials) noted that Harris excelled in school and never had any problems in this area. Klebold was termed intelligent enough to make any dream a reality.