On Friday’s “20/20" on ABC, the 1999 Columbine High School shootings will be revisited when Diane Sawyer interviews Sue Klebold days before she releases a memoir.
Klebold is the mother of shooter Dylan Klebold, who, with Eric Harris, killed 12 students and one teacher at the suburban Denver school before taking their own lives. The two students had planned the attacks in considerable detail, without any notice by their families.
The book, A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, is being published by Crown on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
“In coming forward after so many years of silence, Ms. Klebold writes with unflinching honesty, telling her story as faithfully as possible in order to share the insights and understanding she has gained in the terrible crucible of Columbine to help other families recognize signs that a child may need help,” the publisher said in a statement last year. “Although at times paralyzed by her grief and remorse, she has become a passionate and vocal advocate working to advance mental health awareness and suicide prevention.”
Klebold will donate proceeds from the book to mental health causes, she has said.
The exclusive interview with Sawyer was announced last summer. ABC News publicists said no screener was being made available of the hourlong “20/20" episode, which airs Friday, Feb. 12, at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central time.
In a 30-second promotion that has been running, Sawyer suggests to Klebold that most parents think they would have known that their child was up to something like the Columbine attack.
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“Before Columbine happened, I would have been one of those parents,” Klebold says.
Sawyer asks her, “Could you have prevented what happened in Columbine?” For her answer, we’ll have to tune in.
UPDATE Friday, 8:30 a.m. ET Sawyer appeared on “Good Morning America” this morning to discuss the special with host Robin Roberts, and she showed a couple of clips from her interview with Klebold:
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ABC says the “20/20" episode will include reaction from Columbine victims or family members. One student who was injured in the attack, Anne Marie Hochhalter, posted an open letter to Klebold on her Facebook page.