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Murrah Federal BuildingOn April 19, 1995, at approximately 9:02 am, our staff was going about the start of another clinical day as usual. The news came over the radio in the community relations office that a bomb had gone off in Oklahoma City, just two hours to the west of Fort Smith.
The television was immediately tuned to CNN, where it remained throughout the day, as we watched the details unfold along with the rest of the nation. Our staff was put on alert status to provide crisis debriefing for victims and their families.
As it turned out, our staff was not called to assist in Oklahoma City; however, we did not go unaffected by the bombing. We lost family and friends in that devastating tragedy. And, what's more, we lost a sense of safety and shelter from the world outside the 'heartland.' We will never forget that tragic day.
April 1996 TornadoOne year later, on April 21, 1996, at approximately 11:10 pm, a tornado left a path of destruction through Sebastian and Crawford counties in Arkansas once again shaking our fragile sense of safety. The F3 class twister followed a path along the Arkansas River which destroyed a good deal of historic Fort Smith and numerous homes and businesses in Van Buren. Our staff set up counseling services to comfort the victims with assistance of a grant from FEMA.
Jonesboro School ShootingsOn March 24, 1998, two boys -- armed with two semiautomatic rifles and several handguns -- pulled a fire alarm to force classmates out of Jonesboro's Westside Middle School, then opened fire from a wooded area, killing four students and a teacher.
On his 14th birthday, Mitchell Johnson pleaded guilty to killing four classmates and a teacher and wounding 10 other people. Another Jonesboro boy, 12-year-old Andrew Golden, pleaded not guilty due to mental incompetence but still was found guilty by a judge at a juvenile court hearing August 11.
Craighead County Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. sentenced them to the custody of Arkansas Division of Youth Services, which will determine when the boys are released.
The longest they could be held in a juvenile facility is until they reach age 21, although the state currently has no facility to hold them beyond age 18.
The judge added a proviso: that if the juvenile system releases them before they turn 21, they must serve 90 days in jail -- the maximum allowed by law under such a proviso -- and will be on probation until they are 21.
Because they are juveniles, the boys were not put on trial before a jury, were not convicted of murder and were not subject to a life sentence or death penalty.
Instead, the only issue for the judge to decide was guilt or innocence of juvenile delinquency under Arkansas law.
Gov. Mike Huckabee has said he would build a new facility or modify an existing one to hold them as long as the state can.
Center staff traveled to Jonesboro to counsel students, teachers at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro.