Two Columbine Students Survive April 20 — Then Die Together Ten Months Later
In Littleton, Colorado, the name “Columbine” is more than a school. It became a dividing line in time — before and after April 20, 1999. For the students who lived through that day, the world did not simply return to normal afterward. Many carried the trauma in their bodies, in their sleep, in their friendships, and in their sense of safety. Nicholas “Nick” Kunselman and Stephanie Hart-Grizzell were among those students.
They were inside Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, when violence erupted and chaos swept through their campus. Gunfire echoed through hallways. Students fled, hid, and waited in terror. Thirteen people were killed and many others wounded. Nick and Stephanie survived that day physically unharmed — something that, to the people who loved them, felt like beating impossible odds.
In the months that followed, they tried to rebuild what “normal” meant. Friends and family later said the experience bonded them in a way few teenagers could understand. They had lived through something that permanently reshaped their community and their generation. Their relationship deepened, forged by shared fear and survival. They leaned on each other in ways that only fellow survivors could. What they carried did not need to be spoken aloud between them — it was already understood.
Nick was remembered as responsible, hardworking, and protective. He took his job seriously and was saving money for his future. Stephanie was described as kind, gentle, and deeply devoted to him. Their relationship became a symbol of resilience in a town still trying to heal. To many, they represented hope — proof that life could continue after tragedy.
Less than one year later, that hope was shattered.
In the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2000, Nick was working the closing shift at the Subway restaurant located at 6768 West Coal Mine Avenue in Littleton, Colorado. Stephanie had come to the shop to wait for him so they could leave together once his work was finished. It was a simple, ordinary plan shared by countless teenage couples. There was nothing unusual about their presence inside the restaurant that night.
Sometime shortly after midnight, something went terribly wrong.
Just before 1:00 a.m., another employee happened to pass by the Subway and noticed something that immediately raised concern. The store lights were still on, and the neon “Open” sign remained illuminated long after the restaurant should have been closed. This was out of character for the business. Uneasy, the employee entered the store to investigate.
Inside, behind the counter, lay the bodies of Nicholas Kunselman and Stephanie Hart-Grizzell.
Both teenagers had been shot to death.
They were found in the work area of the store where Nick would normally be completing his closing duties. Stephanie, who had come simply to wait for him, was beside him. The scene offered no obvious explanation for what had occurred. Investigators stated publicly that there were no signs of a struggle. There was no indication that a robbery had taken place. The cash register was not emptied, and personal belongings belonging to the victims were still inside the restaurant.
From the very beginning, detectives were confronted with a disturbing contradiction: two teenagers had been executed inside a business, yet nothing appeared to have been taken. There was no visible motive. No overturned furniture. No confirmed forced entry. The killings appeared swift, deliberate, and unexplained.
The location of the crime only intensified the shock.
The Subway restaurant sat less than two miles from Columbine High School — a community still deeply scarred by the mass shooting that had occurred just ten months earlier. Littleton was still grappling with grief, fear, and trauma when the murders of Nick and Stephanie thrust the town back into crisis. For residents, it felt as though violence had returned to a place already marked by tragedy.
As news spread, the case quickly became known as “The Subway Murders.”
More than two decades later, it remains unsolved.
Investigators determined that the shootings occurred shortly after the restaurant’s midnight closing time. Beyond that, many critical details have never been publicly confirmed. Authorities stated that both victims died from gunshot wounds and were found behind the counter area of the Subway. No murder weapon was recovered. No immediate motive was identified.
There has never been public confirmation of the caliber of the firearm used, the exact number of shots fired, whether surveillance cameras captured any images, or how the shooter entered or exited the building. These unknowns left investigators with few solid leads. Why would someone enter a fast-food restaurant late at night and kill two teenagers without taking money? Why leave no obvious trail behind? Why target them at all?
The absence of physical evidence and the lack of an apparent motive made the case extraordinarily difficult to solve.
At least one witness reported seeing a young male walking away from the Subway around 12:45 a.m., close to the estimated time of the murders. The individual was described as a white male between approximately 16 and 20 years old, about 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing roughly 150 to 170 pounds, with light or blond hair. Composite sketches were created and distributed based on this description. Despite national attention and repeated public appeals, the individual has never been identified.
Investigators confirmed that the deaths of Nicholas Kunselman and Stephanie Hart-Grizzell were homicides and that both were shot inside the Subway restaurant. The case has no confirmed suspect. The murders were not conclusively tied to robbery, and despite the proximity to Columbine High School and the victims’ history there, authorities have stated that no connection has ever been proven between the Subway murders and the Columbine shooting.
Law enforcement officials have repeatedly said that someone likely holds information that could solve the crime and that even small details could be critical. In the early years of the investigation, multiple tips and confessions were received and investigated. Some of those confessions were later determined to be false.
Limited forensic testing has been referenced publicly over the years, but no forensic evidence has ever been announced as leading to a suspect or arrest.
What makes this case so haunting is not only that two teenagers were murdered, but that they had already survived one of the most infamous acts of violence in American history. They escaped death once, only to be taken together ten months later in a place that should have been safe.
Two lives bound by survival.
Two lives ended in silence.
A community left with questions that still have no answers.
More than twenty years later, the murders of Nicholas Kunselman and Stephanie Hart-Grizzell remain one of Littleton’s most painful and enduring mysteries.
Lingering Mysteries
-
Why were two teenagers targeted inside a fast-food restaurant?
-
If robbery was not the motive, what was?
-
Was the shooter known to them?
-
Why Valentine’s Day?
-
Who was the young man seen walking away?
-
Why has no weapon ever been recovered?
-
Were there multiple perpetrators?
-
Was the crime random or planned?
-
Why did the killer leave no clear trail?
Key Figures in the Case
-
Nicholas Kunselman — Victim — 15-year-old Subway employee
-
Stephanie Hart-Grizzell — Victim — 16-year-old girlfriend waiting for Nick
-
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office — Lead investigative agency
-
Unidentified male witness subject — Person seen leaving area