Andrew Golden &
Mitchell Johnson

From the 3/27/99 online edition of The Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper:

Shooter's anger at teacher drove school ambush, reports suggest
KENNETH HEARD
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

JONESBORO -- Convicted Westside Middle School shooter Mitchell Johnson told police moments after his arrest on March 24, 1998, that Andrew Golden was upset at a teacher and "was tired of their crap," investigative reports released by prosecutors revealed.
Mitchell, then 13, and Andrew, then 11, were found delinquent on Aug. 11 of killing four students and a teacher in an ambush at the middle school. The gunfire wounded 10 other people.

Craighead County deputy prosecutor Mike Walden this week released part of the case file, which for the first time showed a possible motive.

Craighead County sheriff's Deputy Terry McNatt said in his report that heCraighead County investigators John Varner and Jon Moore handcuff Mitchell and Andrew near a county road behind the school moments after the shootings. McNatt said he heard an officer ask, "Why?"
"The suspect [Mitchell] said, 'Andrew was mad at a teacher,' " McNatt said. "He went on and freely stated, 'He was tired of their crap.' "

McNatt said he remembered Andrew from a Drug Abuse Resistance Education class that McNatt taught at the school. "The best I can recall, Andrew was a very good student and never caused myself any problems," McNatt said.

McNatt did not indicate which teacher Andrew may have been mad at.

Mitchell killed sixth-grade English teacher Shannon Wright, 32, with a .30-06 rifle, the reports indicated. Andrew wounded sixth-grade world history teacher Lynette Thetford, 42, with a .30-caliber carbine.

Andrew was a student in Wright's class.

McNatt said Mitchell appeared quiet and "nervous" as officers searched him before transporting him to Craighead County jail.

McNatt said Mitchell told officers that the shootings were Andrew's idea.
Arkansas State Police investigator Rick Dickinson said in his report that he also heard an officer ask "Why?" when the two boys were arrested. Dickinson said he heard Mitchell reply, "Anger, I guess."

Mitchell later said, "He [Andrew] asked me if I would help him do it, and I said 'Yes.' " The released documents contain more than 300 pages and include transcripts of the March 25, 1998, probable cause hearing and an April 2 hearing to determine whether the youth adjudication should be open to the public. They also feature ballistic reports, crime scene diagrams and several officers' arrest reports.

Craighead County Circuit-Chancery Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. ordered the reports' release on Tuesday. Walden said he did not give the media the reports until Thursday because of a memorial service for the five victims Wednesday in Jonesboro.

The documents also confirm which boy shot which victim. According to ballistic reports, Andrew shot a .30-caliber semiautomatic carbine. He killed Paige Herring, 12; Natalie Brooks, 11; and Britthney Varner, 11, the report said. Andrew also wounded Thetford and student Whitney Irving.

Mitchell killed Wright and wounded Crystal Barnes, Candace Porter and Ashley Betts with a .30-06 semiautomatic rifle with a scope, the report said.

A state Crime Laboratory report indicated that bullet fragments from the body of Stephanie Johnson, 12, could not be used to determine which rifle fired the bullet. Basing its findings on the bullet's trajectory, a police report said Mitchell likely fired the bullet.

The reports did not show which of the two injured the five other students.

The documents included information released by police after the shootings and during the adjudication hearing and revealed that three handguns found on the boys were taken from beneath a mattress in the home of Doug Golden, Andrew's grandfather.

The two rifles used in the shootings and a .44-caliber handgun were taken from a gun rack in Golden's living room.

Police also itemized food found in a gray 1991 Dodge Caravan owned by Terry and Gretchen Woodard, Mitchell's stepfather and mother. Several cans of beans, soup and fruit, 11 packages of dried beef strips, tuna and crackers, snacks, and a package of candy were found in a toolbox in the van. The pair stole the van and drove it to the school.

Gretchen Woodard said last month that Mitchell told her he intended to drive Andrew to Ravenden in Lawrence County, drop him off and return the van after the shootings. Woodard said her son told her that Andrew hoped to camp in the woods and live off the food.
Mitchell and Andrew tested negative on urine and blood drug tests, the report said.

Woodard told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that five hours before the shootings, Mitchell told his family a funny story about how an elderly lady grabbed his ear while he sang at a Jonesboro nursing home.

Mitchell's tale ran long, and he missed the school bus that morning. He told his mother that Terry Woodard would drive him to school.

Instead, Mitchell drove the family's van and picked up classmate Andrew. The two stopped at three gas stations before one let the boys fill up.

They drove to the home of Doug Golden, an area technician for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, broke in and stole the weapons and about 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

Then they headed to the school.

The two boys are incarcerated in the Alexander Youth Services Center. They could be released by their 18th birthdays because the state does not have a center for youth offenders 18 to 21.

Had they been charged as adults, they could have been sentenced to terms in the state Department of Correction.
 

What kind of a Fucked up world is it when an 11 and 13 year old commit Mass Murder. Sure I'm fascinated, but I think it's just gone too far.

These kids did something quite amazing. They shocked me. This was a genuine mass murder. Usually when kids do something like this I don't think of it as such but these two have pulled off something that most grown-ups don't have the intelligence to do.

What I've been asking myself is will they be remembered as greats. Will they go down in history along side William Heirens, Mary Bell, Heinrich Pommerencke and others. Admittedly they are both much younger than Heirens and Pommerencke, does it still mean anything to kill. In the U.S. it's hard to believe it does. Since the Arkansas murder, there has been a family murder (5 dead) a nurse admitting to 40+ killings, another shooting at a school, and 4 executions. This is in less than a week. I'm glad I live in Australia.

Okay, to Golden and Johnston. I think Golden was involved simply because he was the only skinny kid at the school. From what I've seen on the news the entire school was full of fat kids. Perhaps the boys were just trying to give the others some exercise. Seriously, when I was that age we never had that many fat kids around us.

Another thing, at 13 if I broke up with a girlfriend I went out and got another one. It never really mattered. When did 13 year olds have such intense feelings. There's no way I ever felt like killing the little bitches (at least not at that age). I mean really, who plots something like this over a 13 year old girl ,who was probably fat no less. And he could even kill her. What a loser, almost as bad as Julio Gonzalez. At least he'll only do 5 years for her.

What about the Golden kids grandfather. Man, I heard him actually say that the kid was a good shot, and that was because of him. He even bragged about the kid killing his first duck this year. Well mate he's killed more than a duck this year. Some people are incredibly stupid aren't they. And what about Mitchell's old man. He locks up the rifles but leaves 3 high powered rifles lying around. How fuckin' stupid is that.

In all this has been one of the highlight mass murders this year. Let's just hope that kids can be allowed to grow up a bit before they choose to kill people in the future.