Politics & Government

Jonesboro School Shooting: Victims' Families Awarded $150M

After hearing a fire alarm, four girls and a teacher evacuated Westside Middle School in 1998 only to be gunned down by two boys.

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JONESBORO, AR — After hearing a fire alarm, four girls and a teacher evacuated their Arkansas school in 1998 only to be gunned down by two boys. On Monday, a judge awarded $150 million in a civil lawsuit to their families — an amount the families' attorney, Bobby McDaniel, said they'll likely never see.

McDaniel hopes the ruling will prevent Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson from profiting off the shooting.

Golden and Johnson set off a fire alarm at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro and fired at people as they evacuated the school. Paige Herring and Stephanie Johnson, both 12, were killed along with Brittney Varner and Natalie Brooks, both 11. Teacher Shannon Wright was also slain.

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Golden and Johnson were 11 and 13 at the time and were expected to stay imprisoned until they turned 21 under state law. (For more information on this and other Arkansas stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Mitchell Johnson
Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Johnson, then-23, center, walks past members of the media during a lunch break from his trial at the Federal Building on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008 in Fayetteville. In 1998, state courts sent Johnson, then 13, and 11-year-old schoolmate Andrew Golden to a juvenile prison until their 18th birthdays after they shot and killed a teacher at Jonesboro Westside Middle School and four students.


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Photo credit: WCCO-TV via AP; Beth Hall/Associated Press

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