Nineteen Minutes Characters

The male protagonist.

Josie's ex-best friend. He is the school shooter. He was bullied throughout his school life. He is sentenced to life in prison at the end

The female protagonist.

Once Peter's best friend, she stops hanging out with him in middle school for the popular crowd. She is Matt's girlfriend. Her greatest fear is that her popular friend will not accept her

Josie's mother. The judge assigned to Peter's case, until Josie is called in as a witness

Detective on the Sterling Police Force and Alex's love interest. He is a recurring character, appeared before in Perfect Match.

Is the head detective on the Sterling High case. At the end of the book, he and Alex are romantically involved and expecting their first child

Peter's mother. She is a midwife, and struggles to understand her son's actions. Also, when she discovers Joey was a heroin addict, she disposes of the evidence, as she cannot bring herself to accept her deceased son was anything other than perfect.

Peter's Father. A happy economist and college lecturer.

He owns many guns in his house and frequently goes hunting. Lewis tried to introduce Peter to hunting, and often took him on trips, but Peter never liked the sport. When Peter was in jail, he never visited him, instead, he went to the grave of the victims of the shooting. It is revealed that he favored Joey over Peter, but he only acknowledges it at the end.

Josie's boyfriend. He is the most popular boy in school and is an aggressive hockey player.

Matt and his friend Drew always would bully Peter from kindergarten, pulling his pants down and calling him names. He is very abusive to Josie, causing her to break her leg one time. The final victim in the shooting, and the only victim shot twice.

Peter's defense attorney.

He is a recurring character, appeared before in The Pact and Salem Falls. Has a baby son and an older son Thomas (also appears in the Pact and Salem Falls) and is married to Selena McAfee. He takes on Peter's case because he believes that Peter deserves a fair trial.

Jordan's wife who assists with her husband's case and one of the few people who are sympathetic towards Peter.

She appeared before in the same books as her husband did, along with Jordan's child from his first marriage, Thomas

first girl shot, Jodie's friend and popular student

Popular girl who hangs out with Josie after she and Peter have a falling out. Courtney dies after being shot in the chest in the shooting. She badly bullied Peter; convincing him that Josie still had feelings for him and then publicly humiliating him

The school's pot dealer, one of the victims

a freshman with downs syndrome that was shot

A closeted gay math teacher who ends up dying during the shooting. He offered support for Peter, who was confused about his sexuality during the book.

Works for Time Magazine, interviewed Peter in jail.

student shot in the back, wrote Peter a letter while in jail.

Peter's dead brother. Joey was the "all American son", good grades, great athlete, etc. He was killed when he got hit by a car driven by a drunk driver, despite the fact that he was well liked, Peter was shown to utterly despise him.

We also find that after his death his mother finds out that he was using heroin

One of the popular kids and Matt's best friend. He, along with Matt, would constantly bully Peter and is considered a secondary antagonist.

started her period during class, Peter started making fun of her then stopped because it was mean.

Kaitlyn Harvey's mother.