CNN logo
Navigation
 
COMMUNITY 
Message Boards 
Chat 
Feedback 

SITE SOURCES 
Contents 
Help! 
Search 
CNN Networks 

SPECIALS 
Quick News 
Almanac 
Video Vault 
News Quiz 


Pathfinder/Warner Bros


Barnes and Noble
Main banner
rule

Federal charges possible in Arkansas shootings

Vigil
Friends and family gather for a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in Jonesboro   

Hearing today for 2 boys; breakup may have been motive

March 25, 1998
Web posted at: 12:55 p.m. EST (1755 GMT)

In this story:

JONESBORO, Arkansas (CNN) -- Two young cousins arrested after a deadly ambush outside a middle school are due in court Wednesday as authorities try to piece together how the boys -- ages 11 and 13 -- got their weapons and why they attacked.

Under Arkansas law the suspects cannot be charged as adults if they are under 14 years old but local prosecutor Brent Davis said on Wednesday the two might face federal charges.icon (109K/10 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

The 13-year-old suspect reportedly told friends on Monday "he had a lot of killing to do" after he was jilted by a girl.

A day later, authorities say, he and his 11-year-old cousin, -- dressed in camouflage, lured Westside Middle School classmates outside with a false fire alarm, then mowed them down with gunfire.

As many as 27 shots were fired, authorities said.

Initial reports of a third suspect were unfounded, state police told CNN.

Craighead County Sheriff Dale Haas said Wednesday morning that the parents of the two boys had been allowed to see them. He said the young suspects were being kept separate by authorities.

Some wounded released from hospital

Four girls were killed in Tuesday's ambush, as was an English teacher who shielded a student from the attack.

Ten others -- nine students and a teacher -- were wounded. Officials at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro announced on Wednesday morning that four students treated for gunshot wounds had been released.

Extra

  • Interactive Map: Recent shootings at U.S. schools

  • Statistics: School violence at a glance

  • Message Boards: Are our schools safe?

    • The wounded teacher and five other students remained hospitalized. One of the wounded students, Amanda Burns, 13, was listed in critical condition.

    Kim Candace Porter, whom several students described as the older boy's former girlfriend, was among the wounded.

    Principal says she wasn't warned of threats

    Karen Curtner, the principal of Westside Middle School, said she was not aware of any prior disciplinary problems with the two young suspects, both of whom were students at the school.

    "We have not received any indication or advance notification prior to this incident," she told reporters. "If any threats had been brought to my attention it would have been dealt with appropriately."

    "We are a good school," she said. "This is a freak accident." icon 262K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

    Classes were canceled on Wednesday and grief counseling was available. The school was scheduled to reopen on Thursday.

    School superintendent Grover Cooper said the campus would be closed to "all news media" from Wednesday afternoon until at least next Tuesday. "This was done because of the need to return the campus to as much normalcy as possible to aid the healing of the students, faculty and staff."

    On Tuesday night, hundreds of people gathered in a candlelit vigil near the school.

    Gov. Mike Huckabee offered sympathy for the victims of school shooting and lamented on a culture that would breed such a tragedy.

    President Clinton, on a visit to Kampala, Uganda, said he saddened by the violence in his home state.

    The victims

    The dead students were identified as:

    • Natalie Brooks, 12.
    • Paige Ann Herring, 12.
    • Stephanie Johnson, 12.
    • Brittheny R. Varner, 11.

    Teacher Shannon Wright, 32, died Tuesday night after surgery for wounds to her chest and abdomen, the county coroner said. Students said she stepped in front of another student as the shots rang out.

    The shooting victims

    Motive?

    Students described the older suspect as a troubled boy who had recently begun bragging about involvement with a gang and was upset over a breakup with Porter. Students said he made numerous threats Monday.

    "He told us that tomorrow you will find out if you live or die," seventh-grader Melinda Henson, who described herself as a good friend of the boy, said in an interview with The Jonesboro Sun newspaper.

    Lt. Ronald Mott of the Salvation Army describes the scene near the school
    icon 113K/10 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
    Tim Jones, a reporter at KDXY Radio in Jonesboro, describes what he saw when he arrived on the scene
    icon 231K/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
    An unidentified student describes the shooting
    icon 234K/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

    "He told me ... that all the people who broke up with him, you know, he's going to come to school ... and shoot them," said 12-year-old Charles Vanoven, another seventh-grader. "I thought he was just kidding around."

    Vanoven said the 13-year-old also had pulled a knife on another student Monday. Other students said the boy was specifically targeting one of the girls wounded.

    "He said he was definitely going to shoot Candace because she had broken up with him," sixth-grader Kara Tate, 11, told the Sun.

    The two boys, wearing camouflage shirts, pants and hats, were caught near the school with handguns and rifles.

    Investigators said the boys were running in the direction of a white van found about a half-mile away from the school with more guns and ammunition in it. The van was impounded by police.

    Classmate Erica Swindle, 12, said the younger boy owned a gun and went deer hunting often.

    Federal charges explored

    Under Arkansas state law, children under age 14 are charged only in Juvenile Court and can be held only until they turn 18.

    Brent Davis, Prosecutor: "This is a close-knit rural area ..."
    icon 257K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

    But Davis said Wednesday his office is "trying to ascertain exactly what our options are" in bringing more serious charges.

    In Little Rock, U.S. Attorney Paula Casey said her office was looking into whether it could charge the 13-year-old with federal firearms charges, though it was likely the 11-year-old would be off-limits.

    Federal prosecutors and the FBI discussed the case with local officials by telephone on Wednesday.

    If they are charged with a state crime, they would appear before a juvenile court judge who would decide whether they are delinquent and whether they should be detained, according to Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant.

    He said a juvenile court judge has wide latitude in determining a program or a course of treatment for a youngster declared delinquent.

    Customarily, a juvenile court has control over a youth declared delinquent until age 18, but the law also allows the court to keep the youth under its jurisdiction until age 21.

    Youths are usually turned out of the system by 18 because of lack of facilities.

    Arkansas has no law prohibiting minors from possessing shotguns or rifles, although people younger than 21 are barred from having handguns. Other laws prohibit possessing guns on public property or for criminal intent.

    Correspondent Jeff Flock and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

     
    rule

    CNN Community:

    CNN Transcripts:

    Related stories:

    Related sites:

    Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

    External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

    Infoseek search  

    rule
    Message Boards Sound off on our
    message boards & chat
    rule
    Back to the top

    © 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
    A Time Warner Company
    All Rights Reserved.

    Terms under which this service is provided to you.
    Read our privacy guidelines.