Anne Marie Hochhalter Biography
Anne Marie Hochhalter was a Columbine High School mass shooting survivor from the April 20, 1999 mass shooting. She had been confined to a wheelchair for 25 years until her death on 16th February 2025.
Anne Marie Columbine Shooting
On April 20, 1999 while Anne was 17 years old and a student at Columbine High School she sustained multiple gun shots after two seniors students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire shooting and killing 12 students and one teacher and then killed themselves. Another 21 people were injured.
Anne was sitted in the on the sidewalk outside the cafeteria with two friends when somewhere behind her came loud popping noises and she saw a boy falling. Her friends managed to run but as she tried to follow suit something struck her in the middle of her back. She tried to move but her legs didn’t move and was struck again under her right arm. She lay on the ground for 45 minutes before the paramedics arrived who at first mistaken her as one of the dead but she managed to raise her arms just in time.
She spent five months in the hospital recuperating from surgery and adjusting to life in a wheelchair. Throughout her life, since the shooting she was a pain meds; pills for chronic urinary tract infections and pills for inflammation in her shoulders; pills for back issues and pills for melancholy.
In 2016, she wrote an open letter to the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the shooters where she said she harbored no ill will toward her.
“Just as I wouldn’t want to be judged by the sins of my family members, I hold you in that same regard.It’s been a rough road for me, with many medical issues because of my spinal cord injury and intense nerve pain, but I choose not to be bitter towards you. A good friend once told me, ‘Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expecting the other person to die.’ It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only wish you the best.”
Marie’s mother Commited Suicide
Ann was the daughter of Ted Hochhalter and Carla Hochhalter. Her mother, Carla committed suicide just six months after the shooting. She suffered from chronic depression which eventually overcame her.
Carla was a teacher while Ted works in emergency management with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Anne’s Brother was in the Columbine School too During the Shooting
Anne was brought up alongside her brother Nathan Hochhalter who was also a student at Columbine High School when the shooting occured. He was trapped in the school, alongside other students for four hours until they were rescued by SWAT teams. He only learnt that his sister had been shot multiple times in her chest and side after he was in a safe place.
Anne Marie Cause of Death
Marie was found dead in her Westminster home on February 16, 2025. Her death was caused by complications from the medical issues she suffered from the shooting.