"Kathy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Hey all..
I just thought I would pass this along..
Schoolyard murder suspects held without bail (Adds details)
By Steve Barnes
JONESBORO, Ark., (Reuters) - The two young boys accused of
killing four girls and a teacher in a shooting spree at their
Arkansas school were ordered held without bail Wednesday to face
multiple capital murder and battery charges.
Police said the two suspects, aged 11 and 13, meticulously
planned the horrific lunchtime assault and classmates said the
elder one, identified by relatives as Mitchell Johnson,
apparently acted out of rage after his girlfriend dumped him.
``I heard him talking to some girls and he said 'I got a lot
of killing to do.' He was one of those all-talkers, big-shot he
thought he was ... I never even thought about it,'' said fellow
student Colby Brooks.
The grandfather of the other boy, 11-year-old Andrew Golden,
said he thought they had deliberately targeted girls rather than
boys in the schoolyard. The dead were identified as four girls,
all aged 11 or 12, and one female teacher. Nine girls and
another female teacher were wounded.
Johnson and Golden were escorted before Juvenile Court Judge
Ralph Wilson in Jonesboro Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities set up a tight ring of security for fear of
possible attacks against the suspects and police officers hid
them from public view by draping a black blanket over them.
Their attorneys offered no arguments on their behalf and did
not request their release.
Local reporters allowed into the brief hearing said the
younger boy appeared calm and composed, but that Johnson sat
with his head hanging down. He asked to speak with his father
and wept while they huddled in a corner.
Local residents said Johnson's father had been among the
dozens of parents who frantically rushed to the school to see if
their children were safe minutes after the shooting, and was
horrified to find out his son was one of the suspects.
District Attorney Brent Davis said the boys each face five
counts of capital murder and 10 counts of battery. He presented
an affidavit to Wilson outlining the evidence against the boys,
but declined to make it public.
Police say the boys Tuesday dressed themselves in camouflage
suits normally used for hunting, then hid in a wooded area near
Westside Middle School and fired 27 times with high-powered
rifle and pistols at schoolmates they had lured outside with afalse fire
alarm.
The bullets struck 15 people, killing five of them. Six of
the wounded were still at the hospital Wednesday, one of them in
critical condition.
Wilson set an April 29 hearing to determine the boys' fate,
although Davis said it would likely be postponed as lawyers on
both sides built their cases. The boys will be tried as
juveniles, which means Wilson will not decide their guilt or
innocence, but whether they were delinquent.
Under Arkansas law, if found delinquent the boys could
normally be held in jail only until they turn 18. Under special
circumstances they could stay behind bars until they turn 21.
For an adult carrying out such a crime, a capital murder
conviction could bring the death penalty.
Davis said he still hoped to try the boys as adults, perhaps
on other charges. ``We're still exploring all options,'' hesaid.
Jonesboro, a usually quiet town of 46,000 in northeast
Arkansas, tried to deal with the shock of the carnage, but
residents also expressed anger at the idea that the killers
might be free to walk the streets in just a few years.
``I don't care how old they is. Nobody who done that should
ever get loose,'' said Gaston Guire, a farmer in his 60s.
Most of those who knew him said Johnson was a quiet boy who
regularly attended church but that he had recently become more
sullen and told fellow students he was in a gang.
Fellow students said he may have gone over the edge after a
girlfriend, one of the 10 wounded in the attack, ditched him.
``He said 'nobody's going to break up with me,''' student
Jennifer Nightengale told reporters.
``He told us that tomorrow you will find out if you live or
die,'' said another student, Melinda Henson.
Golden's grandfather, Doug Golden, said he thought Johnson
had put the younger boy up to the shooting spree, and that they
deliberately fired on girls.
``They were selected because of their sex or who they was.
It was not a random shooting where you just shoot out there
because if that were true you'd hit as many boys as girls,''
Golden said in an interview with ABC Primetime.
The young Golden was no stranger to guns. His father was a
member of a local gun club and trained the young boy to hunt and
shoot targets. His grandfather said the boys stole three rifles
and four pistols from his home to use in the attack.
They had dozens of rounds of ammunition on them when they
were arrested minutes after the shooting, and NBC News reported
they were headed toward a getaway van where they had another
2,000 to 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
Jonesboro Mayor Hubert Bordell cried as he explained there
was little he could do to help people cope.
``People are coming to me for answers. I don't have any,''
he sobbed as he stood alongside a boundary of yellow police
tape. Residents wore white satin ribbons on their chests and
tied larger ones around trees to honor the victims. A wreath of
flowers lay outside the school, which was closed for the day,
and the U.S. flag hung at half-staff.
Witnesses described what had been a chaotic scene Tuesday in
which wounded and dying students and the teacher lay about the
school grounds, some of them crying out.
Olis Sterling, a construction worker who ran to help the
victims, wept as he described his attempts to comfort one girl
who died. ``All I could do for her was hold her hand.''
Others said Shannon Wright, the 32-year-old English teacher
killed in the attack, was hit when she jumped in front of her
students to shield them from the bullets.
After reading this it really makes me wonder what our society is coming to..
Father's training young boys how to operate and handle High-powered guns???
Young boys acting out in rage over being dumped by a girl??
A get away van??? When did 11 and 13 year old boys get drivers licenses???
Why were the Grandfathers guns and amunition not locked up??
How could these 2 boys steal 7 weapons and enough amunition to blow the
whole school away and a Van And Not Be Noticed????
I think that we will all need alot of questions answered before any of us
can make sense of this crime...
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