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Westside Middle School shooting

Also known as: Jonesboro school shooting, Westside School shooting

Active
1998–1998
Region
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
State
AR
Kind
Mass
Status
Convicted
Victims
5

On March 24, 1998, two boys aged 11 and 13, Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson, pulled a fire alarm at Westside Middle School, about two miles west of Jonesboro, Arkansas, and fired on students and teachers as they filed outside from a wooded field. Four girls and a teacher were killed and ten others wounded. Police caught both boys near the school minutes later. Tried as juveniles, they were adjudicated delinquent in August 1998 (Johnson pleaded guilty; Golden was found guilty) and held until age 21, the maximum the law then allowed. The case led Arkansas to let prosecutors try young juveniles under extended juvenile jurisdiction.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. March 24, 1998
    Westside Middle School (Crime scene)

    After a fire alarm was pulled, students and teachers filing out of the school were shot at from a wooded area nearby. Five were killed and ten wounded.

  2. March 24, 1998
    Arrest near the school (Arrest, approximate area)

    Both boys fled toward a van parked in the woods and were caught by police within minutes of the shooting, without further violence.

  3. August 1998
    Juvenile treatment center, Alexander (Prison, approximate area)

    Both boys were held at the state's youth services facility in Alexander, Saline County. Johnson was released in 2005 and Golden in 2007.

  4. August 11, 1998
    Juvenile hearing, Jonesboro (Court / trial, approximate area)

    Judge Ralph Wilson adjudicated both boys delinquent on August 11, 1998, after Johnson pleaded guilty and Golden was found guilty, and committed them to state youth services until age 21.

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.