Columbine High School
Columbine
AND A BEAT-UP CHEVY TRUCK
Officer Sean Reavie , # 8871 , is a 17-year PPD veteran and , for the last four years , a School Resource Officer . Officer Reavie is a bestselling and award-winning author who attended the 25th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting .
April 20 , 1999 , changed our profession forever . On April 19 and 20 of this year , I was in Littleton , Colorado , guest of Columbine High School SRO Eric Ebling and the Jeffers on County Sheriff ’ s Department for the 25th recognition of the horrific events that took place within Columbine High School .
How did that happen ?
During the writing process for my latest book about one of the top 10 greatest men in the history of Chevrolet — Jon Moss — I was interviewing retired general manager for Chevrolet Trucks , Kurt Ritter .
Our interview was ending , and as an afterthought , Kurt said this to me , “ Ask Jon about a project we did for a Columbine victim ’ s family .”
The statement stunned me a bit .
As an SRO , I ’ ve studied Columbine High School and the things that went wrong that day .
So , to write an automotive history book and be told about a connection to a Columbine High School victim , it immediately caught my attention .
Calling Jon Moss , I told him what Kurt Ritter said .
Jon went silent , and after about five seconds , said , “ I don ’ t want to talk about that .”
Jon said it was personal , and that what he did was the right thing to do for that family and not done for acclaim of any kind . Jon felt nobody needed to know then , and nobody needed to know now .
Shooting victim John Tomlin , killed in the library as he huddled under a table with another student , was fanatical about his “ beat up Chevy pick-up truck ” and Chevrolet . So much so , inside his coffin was the iconic Chevy “ Bowtie ” logo . He asked potential new friends , “ Ford or Chevy ?”
John Tomlin ’ s truck , by all accounts , was a piece of oil-leaking , gas-guzzling junk that he loved . To keep the truck running , John worked two jobs to pay for the constant repairs and small customizations to make the truck his .
John Tomlin wanted to enlist in the Army . Serve his country first . He wanted to have an auto repair shop and become a farmer . The Tomlin family traveled to Mexico to build homes for the needy . They all lived a strong Christian life .
All those dreams ended on April 20 , 1999 , when Harris and Klebold carried out their long planned , highly orchestrated attack on Columbine High School .
On April 23 , 1999 , a color photo of a “ beat-up ” 1985 gold Chevy stepside
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