Arkansas School Shooter to Be Released

Only seven years after he and a friend shot and killed four students and a teacher outside an Arkansas school, Mitchell Johnson will walk out of federal prison on his 21st birthday, due to a now-closed loophole in the law.

Johnson and Andrew Golden stole high-powered rifles from Golden's grandfather, dressed in camouflage, and waited outside the school in a wooded area until lunch time on March 24, 1998. Golden then went into the school and pulled a fire alarm.

As students and teachers exited the Jonesboro school, Johnson, then 13, and Golden, then 11, opened fire from the woods. Four students and a teacher were killed and 10 others were wounded.

At the time of the shootings, Arkansas' juvenile justice laws would not allow the state to hold the two shooters past their 18th birthdays. Federal prosecutors used weapons violations to hold Johnson and Golden until their 21st birthdays. Golden will be released in 2007.

See Also:
To Town's Dismay, School Shooter to Be Released

More Information:
Supreme Court Strikes Down Juvenile Death Penalty