In March 1998, Andrew Golden, 11, pulled a fire alarm at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark. He then ran into the nearby woods where Mitchell Johnson, 13, was waiting. The boys were dressed in camouflage and had a stash of firearms with them—three rifles and four handguns.

As students and teachers poured out of school in response to the alarm, the boys opened fire. They killed four students and a teacher and wounded 10 others.

Because of their ages, the boys were sentenced to the maximum under Arkansas law at that time—confinement until age 18. Additional federal ...

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