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As school reopens, teary Jonesboro students ask: 'Why?'

Arrival
The flag flies at half staff as classes resume at Westside Middle School Thursday   

In this story:

JONESBORO, Arkansas (CNN) -- Sixth and seventh graders, some in tears and asking "Why?", returned to Westside Middle School on Thursday for the first time since four classmates and one of their teachers were shot to death in an ambush blamed on two other classmates.

Principal Karen Curtner said 43 of the middle school's 250 students were absent, about double the normal absence rate. One of the students injured in Tuesday's attack, 13-year-old Tristan McGowan, was among the returning students. The boy wears a sling on his injured arm.

News conference with Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler
icon VXtreme streaming video (14:00)

She said there were no "academics" on Thursday so that students could spend the day asking teachers and counselors about what happened. "Most of the questions are 'Why do you think this happened?'" the principal said.

Asked by a reporter if there were "tears" inside the school as students tried to understand the still-unexplained flash of terror two days earlier, Curtner said: "Yes, quite a bit."

Audio of the 911 tapes
icon 658K/101 sec. AIFF or WAV
444K/41 sec. AIFF or WAV
383K/36 sec. AIFF or WAV
icon3 min. 23 sec.
VXtreme streaming audio

'Life goes on'

Outside, a white cross of flowers with a red bow was on the flagpole in front of the school, and the flag flew at half-staff.

The walkway where the killings occurred was festooned with red and white bouquets, and white ribbons fluttered from nearby posts and mailboxes.

Some students wore white ribbons.

Johnson and Golden
Mitchell Johnson (L) and Andrew Golden in undated yearbook photos   

"Life goes on, and from there we're going to start a new beginning," said sixth-grader Colby Brooks. "I can't believe my own classmates could be doing this."

Like many children, 12-year-old Colby was accompanied by his mother.

His first class would have been taught by Shannon Wright, the English teacher who died shielding a student from the gunfire Tuesday.

"She's probably crying, thinking how we're all grieving over her," Colby said. "And she's probably telling us to keep on studying that English and spelling words and move on, and not worry about her, 'cause she's doing good."

4 students, teacher remain hospitalized

While authorities gathered evidence in the case and listened to a tape of a 911 emergency call before deciding whether to release it, suspects Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, were being held in a juvenile detention facility in Jonesboro.

Students
Many parents escorted their kids back to school   

At a hearing on Wednesday, a juvenile court judge set their next court appearance for April 29, when they may be formally charged with capital murder and first-degree battery for the attack which killed Wright and the four students, all girls.

During the hearing Johnson "appeared to be the most distraught of the two -- emotional, holding hands with individuals who appeared to be members of his family," Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler told reporters on Thursday.

Terry Woodward, Mitchell's stepfather, said that, contrary to earlier reports, the boys are not cousins.

Nine students and a teacher were wounded in Tuesday's ambush. Five of the injured have been released from St. Bernards Regional Medical Center, including a student allowed to leave on Thursday.

Five other people -- four students and the teacher -- remain hospitalized. One of the wounded students is in critical condition.

Counselor: 'It's going to take time'

School buses
Students returned to school Thursday   

The school day began with an hour-long meeting in the cafeteria, where crisis counselors took questions and worked to ease the youngsters' fears, said Dr. Scott Poland, a psychologist from Houston, Texas, who led a team of counselors brought to the school by the National Organization for Victim Assistance.

"These children are really just old enough to understand .... that they're never going to see these girls again," Poland told reporters afterward.

"It's going to take time. They're going to ask lots of questions. There's understandably denial, some confusion and it (takes) time to understand the finality of this. All the adults will be doing is just supporting them every step of the way and reaching out to them," he said.

He said he had seen anger, confusion, shock and sadness among the students, and "we have to help them understand this is normal."icon (313K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV) sound

Although the school reopened on Thursday for the first time since Tuesday's killings, it was to be closed on Friday for a previously scheduled off day. Counselors, however, would remain available.

Funerals planned

The four students killed were Natalie Brooks, 11, Paige Ann Herring 12, Stephanie Johnson, 12, and Brittheny R. Varner, 11.

Wright, 32, the mother of a 2-year-old son, died Tuesday night after surgery for wounds to her chest and abdomen.

Extra

  • Interactive Map: Recent shootings at U.S. schools

  • Statistics: School violence at a glance

  • Message Boards: Are our schools safe?

    • The funerals for the four girls are set for Friday and Saturday. Viewings for two of the girls were scheduled for Thursday. Funeral arrangements for Wright have not been released.

    Tougher state law debated

    In the aftermath of the Jonesboro massacre have come calls to revise the state law that says that children younger than 14 can not be prosecuted as adults and can be held as juvenile delinquents only until they are 18.

    Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant wants the state to "take a close look" at how its juvenile justice system handles such cases. icon (337K/31 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

    "We're going to have to consider lowering the age from 14 down to, maybe, 12 or below that," he told CNN in a live interview.

    But Mitchell's attorney said, "I don't think there's any leeway or discretion under the current law to proceed in any other way in the state court," he told CNN.

    Federal prosecution considered

    The possibility of bringing federal charges against the young shooting suspects is also being explored but it was uncertain how involved federal prosecutors would become in the case.

    Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday the intent of any federal prosecution would be to extend jurisdiction over the boys beyond what is allowed under a juvenile court.

    But Reno cautioned against any federal move to lower the age at which children can be tried as adults.

    Reno said her department is working with U.S. Attorney Paula Casey in Little Rock on the Jonesboro shooting but there was an unconfirmed report Casey considers the case "a local matter."

    Correspondents Jeff Flock and John Holliman, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

     
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