Rachel Scott

Rachel Joy Scott (August 5, 1981 – April 20, 1999) was the first victim of the Columbine High School massacre, which claimed the lives of 12 students and a teacher, along with the two perpetrators, in one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.

Scott has since been the subject of several books and is the inspiration for Rachel’s Challenge, a nationwide school outreach program for the prevention of teen violence
Rachel Scott lived near Littleton, Colorado, where she attended Columbine High School along with her younger brother, Craig. At the time of her death, the 17-year old junior was an aspiring writer and actress and had played the lead in a student-written play. Described as a devout Christian by her mother, Beth Nimmo, she was active as a youth group leader at Orchard Road Christian Center church near the Littleton area and was said to be known for her friendliness and compassionate nature. Rachel left behind six diaries and several essays about her belief in God and how she wanted to change the world through small acts of kindness. Shortly before her death, she wrote an essay for school stating, “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same.”

Rachel Scott was shot while eating lunch with a friend, Richard Castaldo, on the lawn outside of the school's library. She was killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, arm, and leg. Afterwards, her car was turned into an impromptu flower-bedecked memorial in the school's parking lot by grieving students.

Early news reports said that one of the gunmen, after having first shot Rachel in her leg, asked the wounded girl if she still believed in God, and that she had simply answered "You know I do", provoking a second, fatal shot to her head at point-blank range.Some accounts attributed this version of events to Castaldo, though he later denied telling this story. Despite the controversy surrounding this issue, Rachel’s parents contend in their book, Rachel’s Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott, that their daughter was targeted by the killers and died as a martyr for her Christian faith, based on videotapes made by the teenage perpetrators in which they are said to mock Rachel for her beliefs.