Death in Young Hands

The cold precision of an ambush of students and teachers outside an Arkansas middle school would have been horrifying enough had it been exercised by adults. That it was allegedly orchestrated and carried out by a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old is staggering. The Jonesboro, Ark., shooting comes after eerily similar school assaults in small towns in Mississippi and Kentucky; when will the nation wake up to the warning signs?

For the third time since October, hell-bent students apparently had little trouble obtaining deadly firepower. The Jonesboro suspects had a pair of handguns and two high-powered hunting rifles when they were seized. According to some reports, more guns and ammunition were found in a potential getaway vehicle. One can argue rightly that juveniles must not be allowed access to such weaponry and that the adults who failed to keep firearms secure should be punished. But Arkansas and other states have a lot of work to do.

In Arkansas, minors cannot legally possess handguns but can own shotguns and rifles. State officials say no law requires parents to lock up their guns. And the state began requiring background checks on prospective gun buyers only in January.

The toll in Arkansas was five dead, with 10 wounded, five of them critically. In West Paducah, Ky., the young suspect allegedly used a pistol to kill three students; a fourth was paralyzed. In Pearl, Miss., a boy allegedly sprayed gunfire on the Pearl High School grounds, killing two students and wounding seven others. And here in California Wednesday, a 14-year-old Daly City student was arrested on charges of attempted murder after he allegedly shot at his principal with a semiautomatic pistol.

The lesson ought to be obvious by now: Murderous gun violence can happen anywhere, even in a Bible Belt town where most folks are acquainted with one another. Each of the three fatal shooting incidents in the South seemed meticulously planned. In at least two of the cases the suspects are alleged to have spoken openly about their intentions, but they were not taken seriously or reported. It is painfully clear that any such boast deserves serious attention.

The Arkansas suspects used military-like tactics: clear lines of fire over manicured school grounds; camouflage clothing and firing positions hidden in a tree line. And a fire alarm allegedly set off by one of the suspects not only forced teachers and students out of the building into the firing line, it automatically locked the doors behind them.

Next time, threats should be reported and investigated. Starting now, a greater effort must be made to keep firearms out of the hands of children. That’s how lives may be spared.