Westside Middle school memorial garden. Photo by Christopher Lee

By Kimberely Blackburn –
Delta Digital News Service –

JONESBORO, Ark. – Before Parkland, a year before Columbine, 20 years ago this month on March 24, 1988, two Westside Middle School students — armed with seven handguns and three rifles — entered the school and pulled a fire alarm. As their teachers and classmates filed out of the school, the two boys, 13 and 11, fired multiple rounds of ammunition at the crowd from a nearby field, killing four classmates, a teacher and wounding 10 others, horrifying the nation.

Police officers apprehended the boys attempting to flee to a nearby van stocked with food, clothing and camping equipment. After being charged with five counts of capital murder and 10 counts of first-degree battery, one boy pleaded guilty and the court found the other guilty after only a three-hour trial. But according to Arkansas law then, they were tried as minors and the state released the shooters from prison at the age of 21. They remain free today.

It still haunts the people of Jonesboro, Arkansas, where they have watched the news from Florida, Washington State, Oregon, Virginia and other places across the country as the gun violence escalates, while policy makers from the president on down put forward what seem like all the wrong solutions guaranteed to make the problem worse.

As the Parkland shooting brings school violence back into the thoughts of many across the state and country, and as politicians and school administrators grapple with the difficult problem and try to find answers, memories return for those impacted by one of the most deadly shootings on a school campus in the U.S.

Westside Superintendent Scott Gaunt said the threat of violence scares superintendents and teachers everywhere.

“Any superintendent will tell you that’s a nightmare that all of us have. Bad people have bad intentions; they’re going to do bad things,” Gaunt said. “You know, we can only hope that we can put protocols in place that can stop it.”

Can arming teachers in middle and high schools really be helpful, or allowing college students to carry guns on campus, even with a required safety course? Or will just introducing more guns into the environment make the likelihood of shots being fired and the loss of life grow worse?

In the aftermath of the Westside Middle School shooting, Arkansas lawmakers enacted the Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction Act, allowing prosecutors to charge those under the age of 14 as adults with capital murder and first-degree murder.

In other states like Florida and Alabama, legislatures are debating arming teachers and other measures. In Arkansas, with a required course, college students are allowed to carry concealed weapons.

Richard Wang, Arkansas State University associate professor of political science, said the new law changes the climate of his campus. His immediate concerns include the safety of the staff, his students and the faculty, many of whom he counts as friends.

“The law, now in effect, denies me the right to control my work environment,” he said. “I’m not allowed to prevent, to get in the way, to ban concealed weapons carry from my classrooms or my office or anywhere else.”

As the 20th anniversary of the deadly shooting approaches, reporters from Delta Digital News Service spoke to those directly impacted at the time. They also explored changes on how police respond to report of a mass shooting, and explore the new law allowing guns on public university campuses.

• Miranda Reynolds details remembrances from the Westside School Board, a student and a former Aransas State University faculty member.
• Seth Cleveland examines how Westside survivors continue to help other victims of school shootings.
• Katie Woodall examines how the Westside shootings changed active-shooter procedures.
• Tucker Crain details Arkansas’ Congressional leaders’ stances on gun violence and school safety.
• Christopher Lee examines contention at Arkansas State over the new campus concealed-carry law.
• DDNS Editor-in-Chief Kimberely Blackburn examines regional reactions to the campus concealed-carry law.

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A version of this story was originally published by the Delta Digital News Service, a Working Community Journalism Lab at Arkansas State University. Republished here with permission and some editing.

Featured photo by Christopher Lee