My heart and prayers are with the families in Perry High School in De Moines, Iowa. A precious sixth grader, 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, was killed and seven others were injured in a senseless mass shooting. The shooter, who died from a self-inflicted wound, was also a student, 17-year-old Dylan Butler. As families grieve, the country debates once again how something this horrid could happen.
This all takes me back to March 24, 1998. Two adolescent boys, 11 and 13 years old, in camouflage clothes armed themselves with heavy artillery and opened fire on their classmates and teachers at the Westside School District. Four little girls and a 32-year-old teacher were killed, another 10 were injured.
My then 12-year-old nephew was a sixth grade student at Westside Middle School. On the day of this unspeakable tragedy he was in his fifth period gym class. When the fire alarm sounded, his class was one of the last to leave the building. My nephew stepped through the door just as one of his classmates fell to the ground. His little cousin already laid dead on the sidewalk. Yet the story doesn't end here. One of the little boys responsible for the murder of his classmates and teacher, Mitchell Johnson, was once my nephew's friend. His step-dad worked, and still does, for my brother.
I arrived in Jonesboro, shortly after the shootings and basically kept the national media off my brother’s property for a number of days. I had an inside view as the story unraveled during the next few weeks, through the trials, and even years later. I interviewed family members, friends, etc. Everyone was searching, and still search for the answers. Who was to blame? Gun laws, violent video games, lack of parental guidance? The answer was not simple then and it’s still not...
In 1998, Arkansas did not have a provision in the law that would allow juveniles to serve life sentences for heinous crimes. In 1999, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 1192, the Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction Act. This act allows juveniles, under the age of 14, to be tried and sentenced as adults on capital murder charges.
The 13-year-old assailant in the Westside shooting, Mitchell Johnson, was released from prison on his 21st birthday. He has since been arrested on gun and drug charges. However, I believe he is the only mass school shooter in U.S. history to be out of jail.
The other shooter, Andrew Golden, who was 11 years old at the time, was also released when he turned 21. He died in a vehicle crash in July 2019 in Independence County. He had taken on a new name and identity.
My nephew grew up to marry a girl who was also in that class on that fatal day. She watched as her best friend was gunned down. The two named their first child after that friend.
The two of them still struggle about the decision to send their two girls to school everyday. The pain is still there - 25 years later.
It’s way past time for the politicians to wake up. The debates must end and action must be taken.
Sandra Brand is the editor of the NEA Town Courier and The Osceola Times. She may be reached by phone at 870-563-2615 or by email at brand@osceolatimes.com.