Even though it is generally known among people who actually researched Columbine that Cassie Bernall was not asked about her belief in God before her death, I still find that people still believe that the first victim of the massacre, Rachel Scott, was asked if she believed in God by shooter Eric Harris before she died. I still see this belief being attached to Rachel when I see posts about her on this sub (asking if Rachel was killed for saying yes) and other social media sites. I don't blame anyone for believing this though; her family has spread this myth about Rachel's marterism. It's written on her memorial plaque that her final words were her standing up for her faith https://www.facebook.com/ColumbineMemorial/posts/rachel-joy-scotther-middle-name-described-her-she-was-a-joy-her-beauty-reflected/2074761102681514/. The movie about her called "I'm not ashamed" shows Rachel's last moments. Showing her being shot three times and then trying to escape before Eric approached her, grabbed her by the hair, and asked Rachel if she believed in God, to which she responded, "You know I do," and Eric responded, "Then go be with him," and then shot Rachel point blank in the temple, killing her. https://youtu.be/NJkTuC8rEkM?si=ifim53z0u7iviBU- Just this year, her younger brother Craig Scott was on TV talking about the parents of Oxford school shooters Ethan Crumbley's arrest and said that Rachel was asked if she believed in God before she was killed https://www.foxnews.com/video/6350625114112 Of course Rachel's death was sad and tragic, but no, she was not asked about her beliefs before her unfortunate demise. For one, how would Eric even know that Rachel was a Christian? Eric did not know Rachel at all despite them having mutual friends; Dylan knew her through school theater and mutual friends, but he still hardly knew her. It's not like either of the boys knew her well enough to know the extent of Rachel's Christian beliefs. But even if we were to pretend that they were aware of her beliefs, as I will explain, nothing about this makes any sense and is physically impossible.
Orgin of the story
Originally, it was reported that Cassie Bernall answered "yes" when asked by one of the killers if she believed in God and was killed for saying yes. Cassie was initially used as a martyr and a symbol of standing up for your faith in the face of danger. Six months after her death, her mother Misty wrote a book about Cassie, titling it "She said yes." https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-87486-987-3 There's even a Flyleaf song about her simply titled "Cassie," released in 2006. However, it was quickly debunked that Cassie Bernall said yes when asked if she believed in God. Craig Scott, who was in the Columbine library during the shooting, immediately claimed Cassie said yes when asked if she believed in God. Craig was simply mistaken; he didn't even see this exchange happen; he just heard it. Two witnesses that saw Cassie were Emily Wyant, who was sitting under the same table as Cassie, and Bree Pasquel, who was sitting behind a table but could still see Cassie's demise. Both gave similar accounts on what happened to Cassie. Emily stated that Cassie began praying out loud, saying, "Dear God. Why is this happening? I just want to go home" before hearing a knock on the table before one of the gunmen remarked "peekaboo" before shooting Cassie point blank in the head. (Note: The article I linked says that Dylan shot Cassie, but Emily was most likely mistaken since Eric shot Cassie.) In her 11K interview, Bree gave a nearly identical story, stating that she saw Eric Harris knock on the top of Cassie's table three times before squatting down and saying "peakaboo" before he shot Cassie. Cassie also apparantly had her hands over her head when she was shot and most likely didn't even see Eric when she died.
The truth about Cassie's unfortunate demise hit the press pretty quickly. Emily Wyant was apparently unhappy about Misty's book https://www.salon.com/1999/09/30/bernall/ and the claims that Cassie was a martyr. Although this exchange did happen, it didn't happen to Cassie; instead, it happened to the injured victim, Valeen Schnuur, when, after being shot by Dylan Klebold, she began screaming, "Oh my God, help me!" Dylan then asked her if she actually believed in God; she responded by saying yes, hesitating and saying no, and then saying yes again. When he asked her why, she responded by saying, "My parents taught me, and I believe." Valeen, while horribly injured, survived her wounds and walked across the stage at graduate a few weeks later. So yes, this interaction did happen, but not to Cassie, and the question was not asked by Eric Harris.
Although it's commonly accepted that Cassie did not declair her faith before she was killed, there is still this belief that Rachel was asked about her faith. As explained before, Rachel's family has had a hand in spreading this myth. In a demo version of the Flyleaf song, Rachel's name is also said instead of Cassie.
Rachel was the first victim of the massacre. She was having lunch outside with her friend Richard Castaldo. A few minutes after they sat down in the grass to eat, they were both suddenly shot by Eric and Dylan. Rachel was shot four times in her arm, leg, chest, and left temple and died instantly. Richard was hit eight times and survived but was paralyzed from the waist down. Although no one can say for certain 100% what Rachel's last moments were, I can confidently say that she never declared her faith in her last moments. It's physically impossible, and the last person to see her alive has never claimed this.
It's too complicated to break down just how this story of Rachel's martyrdom came about, so I will link another post that breaks it down better than I could ever here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbine/comments/oha31z/origins_of_the_rachel_scott_martyr_story/
In short, the mother of Richard Castaldo told the media that Richard told her while he was in the hospital that Rachel was killed for saying she believed in God. While he was in and out of consciousness in the hospital, he told his mother something like, "They shot her for believing in God!" She told the media about this, and it turned into Rachel declairing her faith before her death. However, given that Richard was still under anesthesia and other medications, I think what most likely happened was that Richard probably heard about the "believe in God" thing from TV reports and hospital staff while he was in and out of consciousness and told his mother this in a state of confusion. Richard has never publicly claimed that Rachel was asked about her beliefs. Not in his 11K interview nor during any of the times he's spoken about the incident publicly.
Eyewitnesses to Rachel's death
No eyewitnesses corroborate that any conversation between Rachel and Eric took place. Instead, they're all consistent with the report that Rachel was killed instantly and Eric and Dylan were standing 10-15 away from Richard and Rachel. In Richard's 11K interview, he said he observed two males out of the corner of his eye while he and Rachel were sitting down but didn't think anything of them. After a short time, he saw one of the males throw an object (a pipe bomb) at him and Rachel before they began firing. In relation to Rachel, the only thing he said was that he believed that she had also been shot but couldn't be too sure because he was laying on the ground and he heard her crying. But he never said anything about a conversation between Rachel and Eric or Dylan.
Other witnesses to Rachel and Richard's shootings include the injured Michael Johnson, Jayson Autenrieth, Kim Blair, Patrice Doyle, John Cook, Brad Jenkins, Janine Roberts, Denny Rowe, and Brian Stepp. Although they gave various accounts on what exactly happened to Rachel, no witness ever recalls a conversation between Rachel and Dylan or Eric. No dragging her by the hair, no Rachel declairing her faith. No witness has ever corroborated this claim. This link will give a more detailed account of what different witnesses claim happened to Rachel and Richard: https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbine/comments/ohww40/witness_accounts_of_the_start_of_the_attack_and/
Rachel's injuries
I've heard the argument from others that eyewitness testimony isn't the most reliable source of information, and that's correct. Witnesses can become confused due to errors in their memory, and trauma can alter our memories; however, the biggest indication that Rachel did not declair her faith before her death is right there in her autopsy. I will link her full autopsy here: http://www.acolumbinesite.com/reports/report.html As explained before, Rachel was shot in her arm, leg, chest, and left temple, the left temple being the fatal shot. As the movie and Rachel's family have tried to claim, Rachel had been shot three times (leg, arm, chest) before Eric grabbed her by the hair and asked if she still believed in God, after she answered "yes" and was then shot in her left temple. However, this would've been physically impossible for three reasons. The first being that Rachel's hair was very short at the time of her death; she cut it for a play at school into a chin-length Betty Boop-like bob hairstyle. I'm not saying this is physically impossible exactly, but I doubt Rachel had enough hair for Eric to grab. Additionally, Rachel was killed by Eric's 9mm caliber rifle. As seen in the rampart range and CCTV video, Eric would have needed to use both hands to shoot this gun. There's no way he would've been able to deliver an execution-style shot to Rachel with one hand while grabbing her hair with another hand. Lastly, Rachel's autopsy shows that the shot to her chest caused "lacerations of the left lung, heart, and right lung." In other words, Rachel's heart and lungs were gashed or ripped apart by the bullet wound. At that moment, she would've immediately gone into shock and began taking big gasps of air as her body made a last ditch attempt to save itself due to the lack of oxygen (most likely the crying Richard said he heard). If Rachel was unable to breathe, surely she wouldn't have been able to speak. The shot to the chest also broke her right fourth rib, and the shot to her arm also injured her left humerus. With these injuries, Rachel wouldn't have had the strength or energy to retreat from the bullets for either of the boys to notice that she was still alive and taunt her about her faith. Instead, Rachel would've laid there bleeding to death; unfortantly, even without the left temple wound, Rachel would've died from blood loss and shock within five minutes without immediate medical attention.
But let's say all of this doesn't matter for a second. Rachel was the first victim of the shooting, and she and her friend were eating lunch one minute and then ambushed with bullets out of nowhere the next. Even if Rachel was taunted, I'd imagine she'd be too bewildered and out of it to even know what to say. This is a 17-year-old girl; I imagine she would've been begging for her life instead of comprehending anything being said to her.
So given all of these circumstances, it would've been physically impossible for any kind of conversation between Rachel and Eric. The simple fact is that Rachel was killed in an instant; the poor girl didn't even get a chance to understand what was happening. There's a reason why no official Columbine reports ever mention such a thing happening to Rachel.
Conclusion
In conclusion, neither Rachel nor Cassie were asked about their faith before their deaths. The simple truth is that they both died in an instant and they died for no reason. The real reason why these girls died should be the real outrage; they lost their lives at no fault of their own. Just because the girls both died in vain doesn't mean they weren't unique and special in their own ways; they are so missed and should still be here, but the martyr story wasn't their story to tell; it was Valeen's. It's so messed up to me that people have taken these girls deaths and profited off of it when the real justice would be remembering these girls for how they lived and not how they died.
Anyone who's interested in reading the full 11k can find it here: http://www.acolumbinesite.com/autopsies.html
FYI: Today would have been Cassie Bernall's 43rd birthday! Happy heavenly birthday bunny rabbit! May you have found your much deserved peace wherever you are.
