[1] 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson and 11-year-old Andrew Golden opened fire on the school, shooting and killing five people[a] with multiple weapons, and both were arrested when they attempted to flee the scene.
On the night before the shooting, Golden assisted Johnson in loading his mother's Dodge Caravan with camping supplies, snack foods, nine weapons (Remington 742 .30-06 rifle, Universal .30 M1 carbine replica, Ruger .44 Magnum rifle, Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, Double Deuce Buddie .22 caliber two-shot derringer, FIE .380 pistol, Star .380 pistol, Ruger Security Six .357 revolver, Davis Industries .38 two-shot derringer and a Charter Arms .38 Special revolver),[3] all of which had been stolen from Golden's grandfather's house, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
The following morning, the perpetrators rode in the van to Westside Middle School, arriving late after deliberately missing their bus.
When children and teachers filed out of the school, the two perpetrators opened fire,[5] with officials stating that the shooting began at 12:41 pm.
[7] Another teacher had been checking off students on her class list, when she heard pops, "like firecrackers", and thought it was an ill-advised attempt to frighten the children, to potentially make them take the drill seriously.
[10] After firing a combined total of 22 bullets, Golden and Johnson attempted to run back to the van and escape, but were later caught by the police.
"[19] The case led to wide public outcry for tougher sentencing laws pertaining to juvenile offenders.
[22][23] In 2017, the victims' families were awarded $150 million after filing a lawsuit against Johnson and Golden seeking damages and to prevent the two from profiting from the shooting.
[27] Together, they were known to bully other students, and people recalled Johnson talking of wanting to belong to the Bloods and to smoke marijuana.
[27] The Texaco truck stop was a popular hang-out for youths in Jonesboro,[27] and adolescents there remember Johnson claiming to belong to street gangs.
One year before the shooting, Mitchell, then aged 12, was charged with molesting a 3-year-old girl while visiting southern Minnesota with his family.
[16] On January 1, 2007, Johnson was arrested by the ATF after a traffic stop in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on misdemeanor charges of carrying a weapon, a loaded 9 mm pistol, and possession of 21.2 g of marijuana.
After two days of testimony from the prosecution and the defense witnesses, Johnson was found guilty on a charge of possessing a weapon while being a drug user.
[29] In February 2008, just days after his conviction, Johnson was arrested again for possession of marijuana at the convenience store at which he worked and on suspicion of using a stolen credit card.
[30] In September 2008, US District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren sentenced Johnson to four years in prison on the weapon and drug charges.
Johnson admitted that he stole a debit card left by a disabled man at the Bentonville gas station where he worked and subsequently used it to purchase a meal at a local Burger King.
[33] On January 23, 2009, Johnson was sentenced to six additional years in prison for a further charge of theft by receiving and financial identity fraud for using the stolen card to purchase a meal from a local Burger King.
In February 2016, ABC News reported online that Johnson was released in July 2015 into the custody of the United States Probation Office for the Southern District of Texas and placed in a drug rehabilitation program.
[27] Both of his parents worked as postal workers, and his paternal grandfather, Douglas Golden, was a wildlife conservation officer in Jonesboro.
After he was released from prison on May 25, 2007, Golden's whereabouts were unknown until he applied for a concealed weapon permit in Arkansas on October 7, 2008, under the name he used until his death, Drew Douglas Grant.
[39][40] Andrew Douglas Golden died on July 27, 2019, after a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe departed its lane, crashing head-on into Golden's 2017 Honda CRV on U.S. Route 167 in Independence County, Arkansas near Cave City, Arkansas, about 65 miles (105 km) west of Jonesboro and 100 miles (160 km) north of Little Rock.
The Chevrolet driver, identified as Daniel Petty, 59, of Essex, Missouri, was also killed in the crash, according to an Arkansas State Police preliminary summary of the wreck.