The tall and athletic, Barnes had seemed to have pulled his life back together after the horrific events at the school that day. He had rededicated himself to his school work, earning a place at the top of his class, and had shone as the star guard in the school basketball team, averaging a team-high 26 points a game. On Thursday, he hanged himself in his family home. Mental health specialists have hesitated to draw a direct link between the suicide and the massacre. It's not necessarily related to Columbine.
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teenagers in America.
But it's such a waste. Even if all the other Columbine things hadn't happened, it's still a tragedy. Barnes' former schoolmates have been less equivocal in drawing a connection between the massacre and his death. Barnes was being hotly pursued by several leading colleges for basketball scholarships at the time of the shootings and was interviewed by Sports Illustrated soon after. Then I saw coach Sanders turn around, take two shots, right in front of me.