John Tomlin, The Columbine Victim Who Spent His Last Moments Comforting A Fellow Student
Daniel Mauser Memorial WebsiteJohn Tomlin spent his final moments taking another student’s hand.
In the last year of his life, John Tomlin had grown up a lot. He’d gone on a mission trip to Mexico, which made him more confident. He’d started dating his girlfriend, who he was planning to take to her prom. And Tomlin had just saved enough money from working odd jobs to buy a 4×4 Chevrolet truck.
But Tomlin, who was born on September 1, 1982, would not live to see prom. He’d never wear the tuxedo his girlfriend had picked out. And in the aftermath of Columbine, his truck would become a makeshift memorial.
Tomlin, like many of the other Columbine shooting victims, was in the library when Harris and Klebold charged inside. He hid under a table and motioned at another student, Nicole Nowlen, to join him in hiding.
Tomlin FamilyJohn Tomlin and his sister, Ashley.
As they cowered under the table, Tomlin and Nowlen could hear gunshots as the massacre unfolded. Tomlin took Nowlen’s hand to comfort her, even though he didn’t know her. And, as Nowlen later told investigators, she then turned to her right and saw a pair of boots — and then the barrel of a gun.
Harris shot both Nowlen and Tomlin. Nowlen was hit nine times but survived. Tomlin was shot again by Klebold in the head and was killed. According to a leaked 911 transcript, Tomlin may have also had an exchange with Klebold, in which he seemingly asked if he hadn’t already “done enough?” Klebold laughed and responded: “You think we’ve done enough?”
John Tomlin’s family remembered him as a loving son and brother.
“He was as close to a perfect son as you could get,” his father said. “He was just good. You’d ask him to wash a car, and he’d wash both cars.”
