DENVER, April 20 (UPI) -- Columbine High School was closed Tuesday on the fifth anniversary of the nation's worst school shooting because of a news media invasion.
Classes were canceled to protect students who are unaccustomed to the spotlight that focused on the school after the slaying of 12 students and a teacher on April 20, 1999, principal Frank DeAngelis told the Denver Post.
More than 1,700 students now attend classes at the suburban Denver school but they were just children, middle school or younger, when Columbine students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on fellow students and teachers and then killed themselves.
"They would be exposed to media people, which is not bad, but this group has never been exposed to that," DeAngelis told the Post. "This is all new to them."
It was the first time since the shooting that the school has been closed on the anniversary when it fell on a school day.
At least two television networks planned to broadcast live from a park next to the school on the anniversary, a school spokesman said.
A candlelight vigil was planned Tuesday night to honor the students and teacher who lost their lives.
