Jonesboro School Shooter Arrested Again

Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Johnson, already facing sentencing on a federal weapons charge, has been arrested for misdemeanor drug possession, police said Monday.

Bentonville police Lt. Jon Simpson said Johnson, 23, was arrested at a Fast Trip convenience store Saturday night where he worked as a clerk. Simpson said officers arrived at the store just before 8 p.m. after receiving a call that someone lost their credit card there and the card had been used by someone else.

Simpson said Johnson allowed officers to search his pockets, where they found a bag containing marijuana. The whole package weighed 1.8 grams, he said.

Simpson said Johnson told officers nothing after they found the marijuana.

"Him working there is going to put him as part of the investigation," Simpson said. "It kind of rolled from there."

Officers arrested Johnson for misdemeanor drug possession, a charge that could bring a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The Benton County Jail listed Johnson as an inmate Monday morning and a jailer said no bond had been set in the case. Jailers said no time had been set as of Monday morning for a court appearance for Johnson.

John B. Schisler, Johnson's federal public defender in the weapons case, said Monday he was aware of Johnson's arrest and had no comment.

A federal jury convicted Johnson last week of possessing a gun while being a user of or addicted to a controlled substance stemming from a New Year's Day 2007 arrest in northwest Arkansas. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In 1998, Johnson, then 13, and Andrew Golden, then 11, shot at students and teachers at Jonesboro Westside Middle School after Golden pulled a fire alarm. The boys killed English teacher Shannon Wright and students Natalie Brooks, 11; Paige Herring, 12; Stephanie Johnson, 12; and Britthney Varner, 11. They wounded 10 others.

At the time of the schoolyard massacre, Arkansas had the means only to hold Johnson and Golden until age 18. Federal prosecutors acted before the boys' birthdays, securing convictions on weapons charges that kept them in prison until age 21.

Testimony at Johnson's two-day trial showed the convicted killer got a job at a Wal-Mart store and routinely smoked marijuana with friends after his release. The night of his 2007 arrest, Johnson told officers of his plans to move to California and begin life again.

Simpson said police continue to investigate who used the missing credit card at the store and Johnson remained a suspect in the case.

Johnson's arrest Saturday should influence his federal pre-sentencing report, said Jeffery T. Walker, a criminology professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Walker said that arrest would be included in the report's narrative about Johnson, but likely wouldn't contribute to the overall "criminal history score" against him. That score, which has six levels, offers guidance to a judge during sentencing.

Walker said Johnson's role in the Jonesboro school shooting would play a part in his criminal history. Debbie Groom, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office handling Johnson's weapons charge, said it's unclear whether the killings would be included in the report.

"As a general rule, expungement has to do with different things on the outside and the ability to get to that information, but it still comes up," Walker said. "Juvenile records that sealed are still unsealed when they go to adult court a lot of the time."