Lauren Townsend, The Animal Lover Who Wanted To Study Biology
Daniel Mauser Memorial WebsiteLauren Townsend was weeks away from graduation when she was killed during the Columbine massacre.
Lauren Townsend had many talents and interests. An artist, athlete, and straight-A student, she was a candidate to be valedictorian and planned to major in biology at Colorado State University.
Born on January 17, 1981, the 18-year-old was the captain of the girls’ varsity volleyball team, which her mother coached, and she spent much of her free time volunteering at a local animal shelter.
On April 20, 1999, Townsend was in the library with several of her friends: Lisa Kreutz, Diwata Perez, Valeen Schnurr, and Jeanna Park. When Harris and Klebold stormed inside, she and the other girls hid under a table.
Denver Public LibraryColumbine survivors Jessica Holliday and Diwata Perez.
As the massacre unfolded, Townsend wrapped her arms around Schnurr. Townsend told her it would be okay.
The shooters fired at their table, striking Townsend, Kreutz, Schnurr, and Park. (Of the five girls, only Perez wasn’t hit at all.) Townsend was shot several times by Klebold and then by Harris. But, by then, she had died.
As time passed, her family searched for ways to find meaning in Lauren Townsend’s death. They wanted their daughter — and the other Columbine shooting victims — to be remembered for more than just their murders.
“It really started at the 5-year remembrance when I had just had this, ‘I don’t think I can handle the 13 being remembered anymore for the way they died, we have to do something, there’s so much more to them,'” Lauren’s mother, Dawn Anna Townsend, told CBS News in 2024.
They successfully pushed for April 20th to be a “Day of Service” in Colorado. Townsend’s parents also started the Lauren Townsend Memorial Wildlife/Scholarship Fund to support organizations that help wildlife.
