SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Springfield, Ohio — Rachel. Daniel. Dave. Kyle. Steve. Cassie. Isaiah. Matthew. Lauren. John. Kelly. Corey. Daniel.

The 13 victims of the 1999 Columbine school shooting should be the names in headlines and pictures, Marjorie Lindholm, a Columbine survivor told a room full of Clark County and other area educators, counselors and emergency personnel at Wittenberg University Tuesday, Aug. 5.

The two teens who committed suicide after the April 20, 1999 massacre they planned for more than a year that left 12 classmates and a teacher dead, should be "nameless," Lindholm said.

Lindholm and her mother, Peggy, a licensed counselor, who co-wrote "Columbine: A Survivor's Story," made several appearances in the Miami Valley this week, including the school violence seminar hosted by Wittenberg University and the Clark County Sheriff's Office. Lindholm was in a science classroom during the shooting where she and other students tried to treat the fatal wounds of teacher William "Dave" Sanders, the man many students credited with saving lives that day.

The seminar focused on preventive measures for what law enforcement calls "active shooters" and healing after tragedy.

"They didn't look like monsters," Lindholm said. "You don't know who is going to do something like this until it happens."

The aftermath of the Columbine shooting left the community grieving, said Peggy, whose story at seminars is told over a taped interview.

"Living in Littleton at that time was like living in a funeral that just went on and on," she said.

As a survivor of one of the most notorious school shootings in history, Lindholm said she favors some preventive measures, like strictly monitoring social networking sites like MySpace, allowing weapons in schools and universities with restrictions and supervisions in place and encouraging acceptance of depression and mental illness.

"The real trauma set in years later," she said.

Survivors have reported suicides and suicide attempts, some students dropped out of school and many suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.

Following mass tragedies, there should be funding for mental health and other resources to help survivors, said Lindholm.

She has struggled with alcoholism and depression and dropped out of school because of her fears of being in a classroom, her mother said.

Contact this reporter at 937-328-0373 or at mgildow@coxohio.com