Wearing a trench coat to conceal the rifle he was carrying, Woodham entered the school and gave a manifesto to Justin Sledge.

Sledge, realizing what was about to occur, gathered some friends and hid in the safety of the library while the shooting took place.

"[10] Woodham then fatally shot Lydia Kaye Dew and Christina Menefee, his former girlfriend, then went on to wound seven others.

[1][11][12][13] The school's assistant principal, Joel Myrick, retrieved a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol from his truck and, spotting Woodham attempting to flee the parking lot after the shooting, shouted for him to stop.

Woodham lost control of his vehicle, and Myrick ordered him out of the car at gunpoint and detained him until police arrived at the scene.

Further examination of the notebooks revealed an account of when Woodham and a friend had tortured his dog Sparkle to death, several months prior to the shooting:[14]I will never forget the howl she made.

[15] During the summer of 1997, the supposed members of the Kroth allegedly made plans to terrorize Pearl High School.

[16] Days after the arrest, an antagonistic note claiming to be written by “The Alliance of the Immortalz“ was pinned to a memorial near the school sign.

Following the shooting, Sledge spoke at a prayer vigil held to mourn the dead students, for which he received a suspension from the school district.

I look forward to your sermons each month ...There were separate trials for the murder of Woodham's mother and the school shooting.

Jurors rejected Woodham's insanity defense at his first trial for the murder of his mother, and he was sentenced to life in prison on June 5, 1998.

"[24] Grant Boyette, who was 18 at the time, was convicted and sentenced to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman boot camp for six months and five years of supervised probation.

[29] As a result of this incident, the state of Mississippi made it a capital crime if a murder is committed on the property of a school.