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4 dead in Arkansas school shooting
March 24, 1998
Web posted at: 5:16 p.m. EST (2216 GMT)JONESBORO, Arkansas (CNN) -- Two boys, 11 and 13, wearing camouflage and lying in wait nearby, opened fire on middle school students Tuesday as they assembled outside during a false fire alarm. At least four people were killed and about 10 others were wounded.
It was not clear from early reports whether the dead were all students, although at least two were girls.
Craighead County Sheriff Dale Haas wept as he reported that "There are 15 students shot ... mostly little girls. The two young boys believed to be the shooters, one of them was 11 and the other 13."
The suspects were taken into custody after the 12:40 p.m. shooting. Authorities refused to say whether they were students at the school.
Lt. Ronald Mott of the Salvation Army describes the scene near the school 
116KB/10 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Tim Jones, a reporter at KDXY Radio in Jonesboro, describes what he saw when he arrived on the scene 236KB/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound An unidentified student describes the shooting 239KB/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Haas said the suspects fired on the students and teachers while lying in woods nearby. He said they were taken to the county jail, and that two rifles and other weapons were recovered.
Connie Tolbert, secretary to school superintendent Grover Cooper, said two of the wounded were teachers. Tolbert said that the wounded were apparently all females, although it did not appear that only females were targeted.
At least four of the victims have been airlifted to Memphis for treatment, WMC-TV in Memphis reported.
There were conflicting reports on the number of people shot. St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center said 14 victims were brought there for treatment and that two of them -- both girls -- died.
An unidentified woman is overcome by grief Frightened parents flooded the area, and school officials tried to find other parents.
"There's a lot of turmoil there right now," said a state police spokesman.
"Someone pulled the fire alarm inside and they went outside, and two people in camouflage clothing started shooting," Tolbert said.
Jonesboro is a city of 46,000 about 130 miles northeast of Little Rock. Westside Middle School has about 250 students in grades 6 and 7.
It was at least the third fatal shooting in a school in the past five months.
The courtyard where the shootings occurred On December 1, a youth opened fire on a student prayer circle in a hallway at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three students were killed and five others wounded. A 14-year-old student, described as small and emotionally immature, was arrested.
A 16-year-old outcast in Pearl, Mississippi, was accused in October of killing his mother, then going to school and shooting nine students. Two of them died, including the boy's ex-girlfriend.
Authorities later accused six friends with conspiracy, saying the suspects were part of a group that dabbled in satanism.
And on December 15, a sniper who holed up in the woods wounded two students outside a school in the southwestern Arkansas town of Stamps. The two were hospitalized overnight. A 14-year-old boy was arrested after a manhunt.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CNN Community:
- Message Board: Arkansas School Shooting
Related sites:
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- CNN Affiliate: KATV News, Little Rock, Ark.
- City of Jonesboro, Arkansas
- Jonesboro Public Schools
- Arkansas Department of Education (ADE)
- State of Arkansas
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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