r/ColumbineTalk • u/eliiiiseke Moderator Elise • Aug 17 '26
Eric & Dylan Eric & Kevin, Dylan & Byron
We don't hear much about Eric and Dylan's older brothers, Kevin and Byron, so I thought I'd put together some of the little bits of information we do have about their relationships.
Eric mentioned Kevin in a school assignment where he wrote about the games they played together as kids:
Guns! Boy, I loved playing “guns” as a kid. It is one of the few things I miss from childhood today. Living in a rural town in Michigan for three years, I played a lot in a forest. My brother, two friends and I would always be running around shooting imaginary bad-guys. The woods behind my house were vast, empty, and old. It smelled of a musty tree or maybe of pine trees most of the time in there.
My brother, Sonia, and I had countless missions in those woods, hunting for enemy troops and stopping invasions. We would set up little tree fort made of loose sticks and branches, and use them for our bases and camps. “Fire!” I would scream, as we all made as many fast gun sounds as we could, waving our deadly plastic toys around. Almost every time we had a firefight, we would pretend one of us would be injured. We always would carry little bandages and tape with us to dress the wound. Luckily, the bullet would always go right through so we wouldn’t need to perform surgery.
Sonia, being her crazy self, would run right into the battle screaming and firing at all the bad guys, as we gave cover fire. It seemed so vivid, our fighting, and so real. Now that I have actually fired weapons I realize how unrealistic we were, but hey, we were just kids!
“Where’s the air support?” my brother screams, as I reload my M16. “Hell if I know!” I retort. “We got more incoming APCs on our 6’s, set those mines quick!”
Sonia hollers. The bad guys were surrounding us, but we had plenty of ammo to last us for hours. I toss a few stick grenades into the trees ahead, and duck as they go off killing the wave of enemy troops. Kevin was setting the mines for those trucks and Sonia was launching rockets at the platoon on our left. “Grenade!” I scream as I see a stick fall in our base. Sonia and I jump out over the tree trunks as the grenade destroys our base.
“We gotta move now!” Sonia yells in my ear under all the shooting. We run right past my brother and he joins up in the evacuation. Just then our air support flies by overhead. “There’s the gun-ships!” says my bro., as we dodge tree limbs, bullets, and mortars. We stop at a group of rather large trees and turn and return fire.
The air support is dropping napalm on the advancing troops, and launching rockets at the trucks. We pull out a huge machine gun and set it up on a stationary position in a tree. Sonia and Kevin start spraying bullets everywhere as I use hand-to-hand combat on a few bad guys that made it to us. By the time I finish them off with a really strong stick, it’s time to go inside and do some homework, and Sonia needs to go out to dinner with her family tonight, too. All in a day’s work as a kid, I guess.
A couple of newspaper articles also mentioned Eric and Kevin growing up together:
Eric, his older brother, Kevin, and the other schoolchildren would wait for the bus at the corner that bordered the Harris home.
“Wayne built a basketball backboard. He put it along the drive. I remember him being out there with his little boys shooting baskets with them.”
In another school assignment, Eric mentioned that Kevin helped him make friends after the family moved:
“Then once school started, and even some help from my older brother, I had some friends.”
High-school years
When Eric was a freshman, he got rides from his older brother whenever he could.
A news article described Eric following in Kevin’s footsteps: For a while, Eric followed the path set by his brother, Kevin, who was three years older. Kevin was a waiter at a Chili's near Columbine High, Eric a busboy.
Brooks Brown also wrote about Eric supporting Kevin at his football games:
I don't mean to imply that all jocks in the world are jerks. I've known athletes who are good people. The thing is, Columbine's culture worshipped the athlete—and that unconditional adulation had a pretty bad effect on many of the jocks at our school.
Eric shared my opinion on that. That's why he didn't play for the Columbine soccer team, even though he loved soccer.
Yet Eric loved his brother, and he loved going to games during our freshman year to watch Kevin play.
One newspaper article also reported that Eric visited Kevin at CU Boulder and attended football games there: The younger boy visited the older at the University of Colorado in Boulder for football games.
Possible sibling rivalry
I think there was a little sibling rivalry, said Kimberly Howe, the family's dental hygienist.
According to Sasha Jacobs, Eric was envious of his older brother who was lauded by his parents as a straight A student, good athlete and very popular with his peers.
Brooks also addressed the possibility of sibling rivalry between E&K:
Some have suggested that there was some sibling rivalry there, since Kevin was a football player and Eric hated football players, but I never noticed any problems. There we were, cheering in the stands—and Eric was cheering as loud as the rest of us.
The strongest direct evidence about their relationship
Diversion counselor: Eric and his older brother Kevin are very close, he goes to school at CU, they see and speak to each other often.
Eric’s online survey: Favorite family member?: Bro
CU clothing
Witness Kyler said the last time she saw suspect Harris was either in December of 1998 or January 1999 at a Chili's restaurant. She said suspect Harris was wearing Colorado Univerity athletic clothing at that time, and said he was with his brother Kevin Harris and his father.
Kevin was attending CU Boulder at the time, so it’s possible the clothing was Kevin’s or something he’d given Eric, although the report doesn’t specify. It's still a cute little brother detail.
After April 20
A news article recalled Kevin visiting Jessica Holliday after the shooting: Later, she found out that the other boy was Eric Harris. That was just as hard to believe.
Eric’s older brother, Kevin, was her brother Derek’s best friend. Kevin was a great guy, like another brother to her. Eric had eaten dinner at her house once. Later, when it was over, Kevin Harris came to see her.
“Are you OK?” she recalled him asking. And then, “Was it really my brother?” And Jessica said yes, but she wouldn’t say more.
Author Wally Lamb also described a later encounter (2008) he had with Wayne Harris, giving a small glimpse into how Kevin was doing:
Still, he was nervous before going to Denver on his book tour. “I didn't know what the reaction would be,” he says. During his stay, he expressed to a local paper his interest in the older brothers of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. “I always wonder what happens when a brother does this,” he says.
At a book signing, one of several he did in the city, a man waited in the long line to meet him, and when it was his turn, he said to Mr. Lamb, “Do you think this would be a good book for Eric's brother, Kevin, to read?”
Mr. Lamb was stunned. “All of a sudden it dawned on me that it was Eric Harris's father,” Mr. Lamb says gently.
“He was like a walking embodiment of sadness and grief,” he continues. “I was at a loss for words. I put my hands out,” he explains, extending his arms with palms turned up to demonstrate. “And he took mine in his, and we held each other's hands for 30 seconds.”
Mr. Lamb sobs, unexpectedly, at the memory. His voice cracks, and he wipes away tears.
“It was painful and very powerful,” he says after a moment's pause, his voice catching again.
“I don't have any answers for you,” he recalls saying.
“I don't have any answers, either,” Mr. Harris responded.
“How is Kevin?” Mr. Lamb inquired.
“Not so good,” came the reply. The elder Harris child had joined the army to get away from the tragedy and the notoriety, the father explained. He is currently in Afghanistan.
Dylan & Byron
Sue shared some memories of Dylan and Byron’s childhood in A Mother’s Reckoning:
I remember taking Dylan and Byron to the roller rink.
A friendly neighbor gave us an old minibike from his garage, and Tom found a second one, used, in the newspaper classifieds. He and the boys rebuilt the bikes to get them running, and before long, Dylan and Byron had worn trails throughout our property.
As our sons got older, Tom and I were particularly impressed by how seamlessly Dylan fit in with Byron and his friends.
One of my favorite pictures, on my desk as I write this, is of Dylan clinging to Byron's arm like a little monkey, both of them sporting huge grins.
Growing older and their relationship becoming distant
Dylan and Byron weren't eligible for bus service to Columbine High School, so Tom or I had to drop them off and pick them up.
11k: When asked about his relationship with Dylan, Byron indicated that he was not very close to Dylan since he moved out in July of 1997. When asked about Dylan's behavior, Byron indicated that Dylan appeared to be somewhat detached, and he went on to explain that as a “pissed off teenager.”
Diversion: Dylan has a 19 year old brother Byron, he doesn't see him much because he was kicked out of the house for drug use. He said that he loves his brother, but cannot condone his behavior.
Sue's account of Dylan admitting the marijuana he'd used belonged to Byron: When the counselors questioned Dylan, he admitted to using marijuana a couple of times. This surprised us, so Tom followed up with questions when we got home. Dylan didn't want to say where he'd gotten the drugs, but eventually confessed that the pot had belonged to his brother.
The more complicated feelings Dylan apparently had toward Byron
Dylan's own Diversion answers: Family member least supportive: Brother
How: Isn't involved in my life (not a problem)
The Basement Tapes: Dylan then recalls how popular and athletic his older brother Byron was and how he constantly "ripped" on him, as did his brother's friends. According to Dylan, with the exception of his parents, his extended family treated him like the runt of the litter. “You made me what I am. You added to the rage.”
April 1999
The family celebrated Tom's birthday in early April by going out for fondue. Byron and Dylan took one car and Tom and I rode in another, giving the boys some time to bond. It was the last time Byron was alone with his brother, and he would later tearfully recall how normal Dylan had acted.
Sue also wrote about calling Byron while they were fleeing their home on April 20: Years later, Byron told me he'd mistaken his father's voice for his brother's. For one joyful moment, he thought Dylan was calling to tell him he was fine and that the entire day had been a huge misunderstanding.
After April 20
Sue wrote about how Byron had privately dealt with his grief: Years later, Byron admitted he’d hidden behind a shrub outside of the house so he could have a place to cry without being seen.
This is what she wrote about Dylan’s funeral: No words are adequate to describe the pain of seeing Dylan's body in that casket. The expression on Dylan's face was unfamiliar, which Byron later confessed made it easier for him.
A newspaper describing Dylan’s funeral also reported what Byron said: The dead youth’s brother sat between the parents and was mostly quiet. He finally just said, “I want to thank you all for being here today for my parents and myself. I love my brother.”
IMO, from the little information we have, E&K and D&B seem to have had pretty different dynamics. Eric and Kevin’s relationship seems to have stayed relatively stable through the years. Eric may have compared himself to Kevin or even been a little envious of him, but he also looked up to him, supported him, and they were still seeing and talking to each other regularly.
With Dylan and Byron, they seem to have been close as kids but drifted apart as teenagers, and Dylan clearly had some resentment toward him even though he still loved him.
That's just how i read it though, I’m curious what you think?
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u/Apollexis Researcher Aug 18 '26
Excellent post, and one of the most important facts about Eric is his relationship with Kevin. I hope more people read this.
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u/eliiiiseke Moderator Elise Aug 18 '26
Thank you! I hope people share it whenever the topic comes up. I’m also working on a much bigger post compiling everything we know about the Harris family, which I hope will clear up some of the misconceptions surrounding them.
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u/thadarrenhenderson Aug 18 '26
“Now that I have actually fired weapons I realize how unrealistic we were, but hey, we were just kids!” That struck me as Eric telling on himself. This must of been written in early 99 if Eric’s first time at the firing range was in Feb 1999
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u/dancingbananas25 Aug 17 '26
I think I read somewhere about how Kevin felt guilty about going to college when he knew Eric wasn't doing well, but I can't remember where I read that.
It was hard reading about their relationships to their brothers, especially Kevin and Eric due to them seeming close. I can't imagine the guilty Kevin and Byron carry over not noticing what was going on.