Jonesboro shooter released...
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What do you all think of this?
JONESBORO, Arkansas (CNN) -- Mitchell Johnson walked free from prison Thursday, seven years after he and another student opened fire outside a Jonesboro middle school killing four students and a teacher.
Johnson, who was tried as a juvenile, left a Tennessee facility on his 21st birthday -- his record wiped clean.
The release angered many in Jonesboro and opened fresh wounds in a small community still coping with the deadly attacks.
"I'll never forget what he did to our school, our friends and our teachers. He's changed our lives completely. We don't even know what a normal life is really," shooting survivor Brandi George said.
George was with two friends -- Natalie Brooks and Paige Herring -- on that fateful day at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro on March 24, 1998. The fire alarm had gone off in the school, and they thought they were heading outside for a fire drill. Instead, it was an ambush.
As the girls were walking outside, holding hands and singing, Natalie and Paige were shot dead by Johnson, then 13, and Andrew Golden, then 11. Two other students and a teacher were killed. Nine students and a second teacher were wounded.
Mitch Wright, whose wife was killed in the attack, finds it outrageous that Johnson is getting out. "You look at the number of deaths and the number of people shot, and it's just not right," he said.
Johnson and Golden were tried and convicted as minors, due to a now-closed loophole in which they could not be held under Arkansas' juvenile justice system past age 18. Federal prosecutors were able to use gun charges to keep them in prison until their 21st birthdays.
The boys had stolen weapons from Golden's grandfather, pulled the school's fire alarm and then waited in the woods for teachers and students to gather outside before they opened fire.
Golden is set to be released in 2007.
Johnson left the facility with a clean record. Because he was convicted as a minor, he no longer has a criminal record reflecting the shootings.
Sheriff Jack McCann of Craighead County, Arkansas, said that means he will be able to legally purchase guns. McCann said neither of the boys has given a reason for the shootings or expressed remorse.
"I think that's one of the major problems everyone has with this case," he said.
The sheriff spoke with Johnson's mother who said her son would not be living in the Jonesboro area after his release. She still lives about a mile from the middle school where the shooting took place.
Johnson's mother was quoted in an Arkansas paper as saying her son wants to become a minister and that he promises to never live in Arkansas again.
That suits most people here in Jonesboro just fine.
"I'm glad he's not coming back to Jonesboro. Too many people in this area would put a hole in him," resident Greg Slayton said.
Whitney Irving, a student at the middle school when the shootings occurred, said she and others still struggle to cope with what happened seven years ago.
"I want to ask him personally: Have you changed? Do you feel sorry for what you did? Have you suffered like we have?" she said. "Of course, there's no way he's suffered as much as we have."
She added, "In my eyes, he's always going to be a killer. I mean I don't see how you can go from being a killer to being a minister, especially just in seven years."
While I think a person can change (and I hope he did really in this case) I have to think how unfair that he is being released so soon... Had an adult done this would he have only gotten 7 years? Somehow I think not? And would have happened if he'd been 16 when he did this, would he only have to serve 5 years? To me I think that they should transfer him to an adult facility and let him serve a "real sentence"... I also have really hard time with his slate being clean and being able to purchase guns, etc. I know if someone wants a gun there are ways to get it but why make it so easy for him KNOWING what he did with one in the past? This is just my thoughts on it all and wanted to see how others felt.
I think it is ridiculous!!! The sheer fact that his record is clean is a travesty! It's not like they cleared his record of stealing a car- he committed PREMEDITATED MURDER!!! The people of that town have every right to be upset! IMHO
I hope that he has changes, and I do think its possible, however the sentence and clean record are just too much to swallow!
Do you know what the laws are in your state regarding minors who murder? Maybe you should find out. If you don't like them, you might want to write to your representatives to change them. Being upset and railing against the system doesn't change anything. Become pro-active. Get involved. Find a candidate who wants to toughen sentences. Support them. Work to get them elected.
I think regardless he was a minor or not the punishment should fit the crime... Killing a person, let alone FIVE should get more than 7 years in jail no matter what age you are, whether you're 13,33, or 73. To me the fact that he was 13 means NOTHING, he formed a plan and carried it out and in the process claiming the lives of others and shouldn't be out this soon.
This has nothing to do with the laws in my state (which isn't AK), I was just wanting to see what other's thoughts are on it and if they thought it was as ridiclous as I did.
I agree it is horrible, he gets to go on with his life like this never happened while so many others continue to live with it on a daily bases.
He knew what he was doing was wrong...he should have been tried as an adult & he should still be in prison. And to think he can buy a gun now, I can't believe it.
Emily7 and Hlgmom - DITTO!!! You are both right on IMO. I'm appalled at this.
LOL Chrissy, in Texas our laws are strict  We can't execute a minor, but I think the law makers have considered it.
I agree with Bea. While it is sad that he can go about his life like nothing ever happened, that is the law! The laws of that state declared that he couldn't be charged as an adult because he was under a certain age. It is appauling, but if the people of the state didn't want that law, they should have made a stand about it before something like this happened!
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