Arkansas State Police have confirmed that Andrew Golden, one of the infamous Jonesboro school shooters, was killed in two-vehicle head-on collision.
Now 33 and going by the name Drew Grant, the murderer died when a Chevy Tahoe crossed the center line and hit his Honda CRV head on, KAIT reported. The driver of the Tahoe was also killed in the collision, and three others were injured.
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Back in March 1998, a year before the Columbine massacre, an 11-year-old Golden and his 13-year-old friend, Mitchell Johnson, perpetrated one of the most heinous school shootings in America.
The two had apparently been fantasizing for some time about a violent outburst, and both had a fixation on guns.
On weekends, they played with guns, shooting birds out of trees, and on school days, they boasted to classmates at Westside Middle School about their skills with firearms.
Golden had been around firearms his whole life.
His father, a hunter and co-founder of a gun club, started instructing Golden at a young age, and the boy had entered target shooting competitions.
The day of the shooting, Golden raided his grandfather’s supplies for nine guns and more than 2,000 rounds of ammo, while Johnson took his stepfather’s white minivan.
The shooting went down in a particularly chilling, calculated fashion.
The two feigned illness to get out of class that day and, after lunch, when they had their supplies together, Golden ran in and pulled the fire alarm, then, outfitted with camo, hid in the woods alongside Johnson.
As their classmates streamed out of the school, they opened fire.
Their ambush claimed five lives.
Two 12-year-old girls, Paige Herring and Stephanie Johnson, two 11-year-olds, Brittney Varner and Natalie Brooks, and teacher Shannon Wright were all killed in the ambush.
Wright was gunned down after stepping in front of a student being targeted by Golden and Johnson. Ten others were wounded.
What compelled two kids, 11 and 13 years old, to gun down their classmates?
As The Independent reported at the time, the boys gave a few reasons. Both felt they had something to prove and a macho fantasy to fulfill. Johnson also cited being rejected by girls, and indeed, one of the girls he felt angered by was injured in the attack.
Golden, meanwhile, actually met with a school counselor over threats of gun violence months before the ambush.
He told the counselor that he’d had a dream about killing his classmates, however, at the end of the dream, he had died alongside them, which he claimed at the time had scared him into ditching his plan. That obviously didn’t stick.
The day before the shooting, Johnson told some of his classmates that he had “a lot of killing to do.”
As juveniles, Golden and Johnson got off lightly.
Under Arkansas law at the time, the two couldn’t be tried as adults and had to be released from custody when they turned 21, with their records sealed.
Golden was released in 2007. Shortly afterwards, he legally changed his name to Drew Grant.
Each spent less than 10 years imprisoned for their crimes.
After his release, Golden largely stayed out of the headlines.
But, in one troubling turn of events, his fingerprints popped up when he applied for a concealed handgun carry permit under his new name. His application was denied.
Johnson, on the other hand, has been in trouble with the law on a few occasions and ended up back behind bars until 2015 on charges including possession of firearms in the presence of a controlled substance.
In 2017, a wrongful death suit brought against Golden and Johnson by the victims’ families awarded them $150 million.
The judgement awarded each family $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages against Johnson and $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages against Golden, as well as preventing either of them from profiting from their crimes.
Family of some of their victims have reacted to the news of Golden/Grant’s death.
“The news of Andrew Golden’s death today fills our family with mixed emotions as I’m sure it does with the other families and students of the Westside shooting,” said Wright’s husband Mitch. “Mostly sadness. Sadness for his wife and son, sadness that they too will feel the loss that we have felt. To his family, we are so sorry for your loss. We are praying that his wife and child will make a full recovery.”
Betty Fuller, who taught at Westside Middle School at the time of the shooting, also commented.
“I am VERY saddened at the loss of this young life as I would be any other student,” she said. “Regardless of whatever I feel in my own heart, I certainly hope he had found peace and forgiveness with the ONE that mattered. My focus now is continued healing and praying for a set of parents that not only lost their child once, but twice. I just cannot imagine the pain.”
h/t: KAIT , ABC News , NPR , The Independent
