Zero Day
Zero Day is a disturbing and original examination of violence, and in particular, the May 1st, 2001 Iroquois High School shootings. Using footage from Kriegman and Gabriel’s own video cameras, footage from their friends and family and surveillance footage, independent filmmaker Ben Coccio has made a unique and troubling portrait of two children who willingly take a violent and tragic path.
What is Zero Day about?
Andre Kriegman (born July 17, 1982, loosely based on Eric Harris) and Calvin "Cal" Gabriel (born February 5, 1983, also based on Dylan Klebold) announce their intention to attack Iroquois High School, where they are both students, calling their plan "Zero Day". Both teens are extremely troubled, as Cal suffers from depression and suicidal ideation, while Andre is a violent and hateful individual. The majority of the film is portrayed through their video filming camera, and shows them documenting their planning and preparation for the attack, while hiding it from their friends and families.
Other scenes show the two attending Andre's birthday party, egging the house of Brad Hoff, and Cal going to prom, while Andre closes up and works at a pizza establishment. In one video entry, Cal notes the origin of the name "Zero Day": when Cal and Andre originally planned to attack the school on the first day that the temperature would drop to zero degrees Fahrenheit, after they had finished their preparations. However, this only occurred once, during which Andre was sick, and they set May 1, 2001, as the new date. Wanting their attack to have a memorable name, they agreed to keep the original title.
The two arrive at school on May 1 and prepare their plan and weapons in Andre's car. Andre says that he could never have carried out Zero Day without his partner Cal's help, a sentiment that Cal echoes. The video camera continues to film as they both run into the school through its west entrance, armed with three handguns, an M1 carbine, and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, all stolen from Andre's father and cousin. The pair also carried with them at least 20 explosive devices and several knives. The massacre is shown through the viewpoint of several security cameras throughout the building, with audio of a 911 dispatcher playing in the background, who is attempting to persuade the two out of the attack and into surrendering peacefully. The dialogue is heard via the cellphone of student Omar, who was shot and killed.
Shooting at anyone they see and threatening and taunting several witnesses, Andre and Cal kill eleven students, and one school resource officer. They wound eighteen others. Eventually, the two see law enforcement surrounding the school after sixteen minutes of the incident in progress. After debating over whether to confront the police in gunfire, the pair decide to instead commit suicide.
Several days after the shooting, dated May 10, a group of youths film themselves driving to a memorial for those slain in the attack, including Andre and Cal. The group finds the pair's wooden crosses, before subsequently setting them on fire and swiftly escaping the area.
In Memoriam
Melissa Baker
Chelsea Castro
Carmine Dibiano
Megan Donner
Victoria Evers
Greg Krupa
Brent Pearlman
Sarah Pilar
Leon Stetz
Chris Thomas
Omar Walters
Jason Zuffoletti