Bloodshed in the Heartland

"Ms. Spencer, I'm bleeding!"

Kids killing kids are always alarming and tragic stories, however, this story in particular takes on a whole new frightening level. The issue that is just as shocking as the crime, is how carefully the shooting was planned. The quantity of weapons "on hand", to the frighteningly clever pulling of a fire alarm to empty the school into the field of fire. In less than a minute, 22 shots were fired, 15 people were hit, and 5 were killed (4 girls and 1 teacher). The lives of 11 year old Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson, 13 have been changed forever. This in essence, contains two tragedies, the students and teacher who have died, and the two children who killed them.

Watching this story on the news was very disturbing. A part of me felt that this didn't really happen, the victims weren't really dead or hurt but simply acting. Looking at still photos of the dead is utterly gut wrenching, these girls never knew what hit them as they were gunned down in this heinous crime. One of the saddest and most painful comments I heard came from an eleven year old boy who was trying to understand what would happen next time the fire alarm went off. The boy was trembling from a combination of shock and fear, however, he raised an important point. How will these students react to hearing a fire alarm from now on? It strikes me as ironic that something designed to save lives was triggered in order to do the reverse. Incidentally, the fire alarm at West Side Middle School has been disconnected.

I am still having difficulty understanding how and why this happened (though no reason will ever justify this action). Psychologists have had a field day with this story as they continue to dissect the lives of Johnson and Golden. This is being done in order to learn what makes them "tick", but more importantly, what would make them commit such an act. Explanations of this crime have ranged from these kids growing up using guns constantly but not learning their deadliness; to placing partial blame on society and our culture for having de-sensitized violence.

However, millions of children have learned how to use guns over the past decade; while there have only been a handful of incidents that have occurred which are comparable to this Jonesboro incident. Clearly, the first explanation doesn't stand up well on its own; though maybe we have become numb to violent acts. We see it all the time on television and in the movies where we watch horrific acts of violence knowing that these people are actors and are not really dead. Perhaps Johnson, and Golden thought this was a joke and that everyone was going to get up and continue their daily routine after they finished shooting.

Mitchell Johnson is said to be sorry, and, "wishes he could take it [the shooting] back." Andrew Golden is said to be sobbing in his cell and wants to sit on his Grandmother's lap when she visits. From pre-meditated mad killers to lonely quivering children. What a difference a day makes.