APRIL 1, 1998
Page A8
$wrtlanb
Young Arkansas Shooting
Suspect Had Training
sh o ts w ere fire d . Y o u n g ste rs
scrambled as some of their bloodied
classmates fell and cried as they
awaited emergency workers.
“T here’s no explanation in my
opinion why an 11-year-old or 13-
year-old would do something like
this,’’Craighead County Sheriff Dale
Haas said. “ It breaks my heart."
The morning after the tragedy,
one big wreath, two bouquets and a
candle were on the sidewalk in front
o f the school. Classes were canceled.
Killed were Natalie Brooks, Paige
Ann Herring and Stephanie Johnson,
all 12, and Brittany R. Varner, 11.
Shannon Wright, 32, died luesday
nigh, after surgery for wounds to her
chest and abdomen. Students said
she stepped in front of a sixth-grader
as the shots rang out. The student was
not hurt.
Mrs. Wright, the mother o f a 2 1/
2-year-old son, was kind and loving,
said Lula Belle Jones, the school s
cafeteria manager.
Asked about stepping in front o f
the bullet, Ms. Jones said: “She would
do that without a doubt.”
Linder state law, children under
age 14 are charged only in Juvenile
Court. They may be held until they
are 2 1, but usually are turned out of
the system by 18 because o f a lack of
facilities.
Prosecutor Brent Davis said that
his office would charge the boys with
five counts o f capital murder in Juve
nile Court. However, state Attorney
General Winston Bryant said earlier
that a defendant must be 14 to be
eligible for the death sentence.
In Little Rock, U.S. Attorney
Paula Casey said her office was
lo o k in g into w h e th e r it could
charge the 13-year-old with fed
eral firearm s violations, though it
was likely the 11-year-old would
be off-lim its.
Students described M itchell as
a troubled boy who had recently
begun bragging about involvem ent
w ith a gang and was upset over a
breakup with a girlfriend, who was
am ong the w ounded. Students said
he m ade num erous threats M on
An 11 -year-old boy accused with
his 13-year-old cousin o f shooting
five people to death outside a school
had been trained in target shooting, a
family friend said..
Four girls and an English teacher
who shielded a student from the at
tack were killed in the ambush Tues
day outside W estside Elementary
School. Eleven others - 10 students
and a teacher - were wounded. Six
people remained hospitalized, one in
critical condition.
Authorities didn’t release the boys’
names, but The Jonesboro Sun iden
tified them as Mitchell Johnson, 13,
and his 11 -year-old cousin Andrew
Golden. Detention hearings for the
boys were scheduled tor this after
noon.
Authorities continued to search
for answers to how the boys got their
weapons and why they attacked. Po
lice said Mitchell, who had beenjilted
by a girl and made threats, and An
drew lured classmates out of school
with a false fire alarm, then mowed
them down with gunfire.
A ndrew ’s father, Dennis, is a
leader o f a local gun club, the
Jonesboro Practical Pistol Shooters.
Both he and his wife are postmasters
at towns near here.
Terry Crider, a family friend and
fellow shooting club member, said
that Dennis Golden began taking his
son hunting as a young child and had
recently begun training him in “prac
tical shooting,” a handgun com peti
tion with moving and pop-up targets.
He said the boy was a pretty good
shot, although fairly slow.
“ Dennis and Pat both have tried as
hard as any parents to raise their
child right, teach him respect for life,
teach him what firearms can do and
how to handle them safely,” Crider
said. “So that’s one o f the things that
kind o f alarms me.
“T h ey ’re trying seriously to get
their heads together and figure out
what happened them selves,” Crider
added. He had talked to the father
earlier in the day.
Law officers also were trying to
understand. Authorities said up to 27
day.
"H e told us that tom orrow you
will find out if you live or die,”
seventh-grader Melinda Henson, who
described herself as a good friend o f
the boy, told the Sun.
“He told me yesterday that all the
people who broke up with him, you
know, he’s going to come to school
tomorrow and shoot them," said 12-
year-old Charles Vanoven, another
seventh-grader. "I thought he was
just kidding around.”
Charles said the 13-year-old also
pulled a knife on another student
M onday, but he was afraid to re
port him. O ther students said the
boy was specifically targeting one
o f the girls w ounded.
“ He said he was
definitely going to
shoot C andace be
cause she had bro
ken up w ith him ,”
s ix th -g ra d e r K ara
T ate, 11, told the
Sun.
K im
C andace
Porter, identified by
several students as the form er g irl
friend, was listed in stable co n d i
tion at St. Bernards Regional M edi
cal C enter.
T he school has 250 students in
sixth and seventh grades. Jonesboro
is a university town of 52,000 about
130 m iles northeast o f Little Rock.
The tw o boys, w earing cam ou
flage shirts, pants and hats, w ere
caught near the school w ith han d
guns and rifles. Investigators said
the boys w ere running in the direc
tion o f a w hite van found about a
half-mile away from the school with
more guns and am m unition in it.
The van was im pounded by police.
C lassm ate Erica Sw indle, 12,
said the younger boy ow ned a gun
and w ent deer hunting often.
“ H e'll sit there and say, ‘M an,
h e ’s m aking me so mad I should
ju st take my gun and start blasting
him in the butt for it,” ’ E rica said.
“You know he d o n ’t act like h e ’s
mad, but you really d o n ’, know
about him. H e’s 11.”
Portland's Bradley-Angle House on
the Jonesboro, Arkansas School Murders
“ W eat Bradley-Angle House wish
to pass along our condolences to the
students, families and community o f
Jonesboro, Arkansas. O ur hearts go
out to each o f you. We grieve along
with you for the lives lost and the
injuries inflicted during this horrible,
senseless tragedy. We find these
murders and attempted murders very
disturbing and wish to address sev
eral related issues,” said Erika Sil
ver, Executive Director.
As individuals and communities,
we must look closely at this tragedy.
We must question how and why these
young boys had access to lethal weap
ons. We must realize that this vio
lence was no, random but prem edi
tated, and most likely specifically
directed at females
(as the targets).
It is important
to examine these
b o y s ’ m o tiv e s.
Early news reports
have indicated that
th e b o y s had
bragged to fellow
student about kill
ing girls who broke up with them.
Were these threats taken seriously?
Were children, parents, and/or school
personnel given appropriate infor
mation to support them in dealing
with such a threat?
Although shocking, these murders
are not a random, isolated incident.
These murders are part o f a larger
pattern in our society o f male vio
lence perpetrated against females,
particularly after a woman or girl has
said no to, or ended a relationship.
“One recent study found that pos
sessiveness (including infidelity, fear
o f termination o f the relationship,
and sexual rivalry) was the most
prevalent reason given by male of
fenders for killing their romantic
partners. Female offenders killed
much more often for self-defense
than for any other reason,” accordi ng
to Rasche, 1993.
I, is time to take our society’s
epidemic o f violence seriously, es
pecially violence against females,
whether girls or women, strangers or
friends, partners or spouses.
“In 1996, 30% o f all female mur
der victims were killed by their hus
bands or boyfriends, while 3% o f
males were killed by their wives or
girlfriends,” according to a Federal
Bureau o f Investigations presenta
tion summary, 1997.
There is no community, race, class,
or culture immune to this violence.
Until each and every segment o f our
society demonstrates clear bound
aries and consequences for perpetra
tors o f violence against women and
girls, this epidemic will continue.
Until we collectively send the mes
sage o f zero tolerance for violence
against women and girls, and truly
treat women and girls as equal to men
and boys, this violence will continue.
As violence m ore frequently
touches our nation’s schools, we wish
to stress the importance o f education
not only for students, but also for
teachers, counselors, parents, and
administrative staff. Bradley-Angle
House, Community Advocates for
Safety and Self Reliance, and Port
land W om en’s Crisis Line, offer
school based curriculums. These cur
riculums teach students how to rec
ognize the signs o f domestic and
sexual violence, support schools in
their response to v iolence or the threat
o f violence, and most importantly,
help to increase safety and support
for victims o f such violence. Educa
tion programs such as these must be
funded, and must be offered each
year to every student and staff mem
ber in all schools.
Several domestic and sexual vio
lence education curriculum are to be
presented to Congress for nation
wide implementation in schools. We
urge Congress to pass a nationwide
curricu 1 um sooner than later. We urge
parents to demand implementation
to help save lives.
Until each o f us examines what
we can do personally and as a com
m unity to stop violence against
women and girls, at home, at work,
in our social and religious organiza
tions, and at school - even elem en
tary school - this epidemic o f vio
lence will continue. We must take
swift and continual action to prevent
this kind o f violence in the future.
Founded in 1975 to p rovide
em ergency shelter for w om en and
their children escaping dom estic
abuse, B radley-A ngle H ouse is the
oldest dom estic violence in terven
tion agency on the west coast and
one o f the oldest in the U nited
States.
T oday, B rad ley -A n g le house
provides a variety o f integrated
program s at three different sites
and throughout the com m unity, in
cluding a 24-hour crisisline, E m er
gency Shelter, C hildren’s Program ,
T ransitional Program , as w ell as
D om estic V iolence education and
support groups.
Locals Speak of School Shooting
“ I saw my best friend, Natalie
Brooks, get killed - shot in the head
tw ice.” - A m ber Vanoven, 11.
“ He was fixing to shoot her and
Mrs. W right m oved out in front o f
her. She got shot. ... I sat and
w atched h er.” - A m ber V anoven,
about teacher Shannon W right, who
was fatally shot w hile shielding a
child.
“He told us that tomorrow you
will find out if you live or die.” -
Seventh-grader Melinda Henson,
describing a conversation with the
13-year-old suspect a day before the
shooting.
“T h e re ’s no explanation in my
opinion why an 11 -year-old or 13-
year-old w ould do som ething like
this. ... It b reak s my h e a rt.” -
C raighead C ounty S h e riff D ale
Haas.
“ It m akes me angry not so m uch
at individual children that have
done it as m uch as angry at a w orld
in w hich such a thing can happen.”
- A rkansas G ov. M ike H uckabee.
NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Transportation Project Update
NE Fremont to
NE Shaver Phase
I Construction
tion plan for NE Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd. This
process was a continua
tion of the MLK Action
On January 15, 1998,
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s birthday, Mayor Vera
Katz and Commissioner
Committee work and
Albina Community Plan.
Community meetings
were held at King Elemen
Charlie Hales announced
tary School to invite public
Phase I street improve
comment. Over 400
ments totaling $1 million
dollars will be made to NE
residents attended the
meetings to discuss their
Martin Luther King Jr.
wants, needs, and visions
Blvd. between NE Fremont
regarding NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
and NE Shaver to encour
age redevelopment.
Support for this project
was also echoed by:
Grace Crunican, Director
NE MLK Plan
Details
• 40 NEW parking spaces on
NE MLK Jr. Blvd. between
NE Fremont to NE Shaver
• 25 plus additional pedes
trian street lights
ment of Transportation;
along Martin Luther King
Mike Burton, Executive
Jr. Blvd. (MLK) from
Director of METRO; and
NE Fremont to NE Shaver.
Carl Talton, Chairman of
The improvements will
the Portland Development
consist of on-street
parking, landscaping,
lighting, improved side
representatives from
neighborhood associa
tions and business asso
ciations, MLK businesses,
churches, and nonprofit
organizations have been
working on a transporta
i
If you are a contractor and
would like to have the oppor
tunity to bid on the MLK
Project or any City of Portland
public works project, please
contact:
Loretta Young
• 50 plus additional trees
along street
City of Portland
• Enhanced crossings at NE
Beech and NE Failing
503/823-6850
• NEW transit stops including
new bus shelters and bike
racks
There will be opportunities
• 37 new trees in new 4’
wide median
• Enhanced pedestrian street
crossings
to submit bids on:
•Traffic control/flagging*
•Paving‘ Painting street light
poles’ Refurbishing existing
street light poles*
Additional bidding opportu
walks, median removal
issues.
Upcoming
Meeting
to Learn more
City Council Hearing
J ob O pportunities
Neighborhood residents who
are interested in construction
jobs may want to contact
community resources that
\pril 8th, 1998
assist with construction
10:30 a.m.
employment. Contractors
jty Hall, 1221 SW 4th Ave.
working on the project will be
’ ortland, Oregon 97204
encouraged to utilize these
and replacement, en
Over the past year,
C ontracting
O pportunities
nities will be identified in future
proposed development
How we got here
Specifics
Shown below is the
of the Oregon Depart
Commission.
late spring and last a year.
community resources if they
hanced transit stops,
or more information,
hire new employees for the
improved pedestrian
jlease contact Andre'
crossing, and street work
3augh at 823-7530.
project.
The names of those contrac
to encourage expansion
of existing businesses and
tors who were awarded
contracts for this project will
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lr » ln g « o n
j
C ovenant I
C h u ro h
Hl
NE Martin Luther King Ir. Bled.
Project Team
City of Portland, Office of Transportation
1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Room 802
Portland, Oregon 97204
be identified at a later date.
to attract additional
Applicants may contact them
development in the area.
directly to inquire about job
Construction will be-gin in
opportunities.
Andre' Bauqh, Project Manager
Todd Liles, Project Engineer
Project Phone: 823-/530
E-mail: agb@syseng.ci.portland.or.us