JONESBORO — An 11-year-old girl injured in last week's murderous shootings at Westside Middle School says she was the girlfriend of suspect Mitchell Johnson for three days, then dropped him because he was ''trouble.''
Candace Porter said Mitchell, 13, often talked about beating up other boys, so when she heard last week that he was saying ''something big might happen,'' she thought little of it, The Jonesboro Sun reported Sunday.
Candace told the Sun she does not feel responsible for Mitchell's actions. She said he was using her as an excuse to be violent.
Police say two boys opened fire on students and teachers as they filed out of the school building in response to a fire alarm one boy set off. Four students and a teacher were killed, and 11 others were injured.
Police arrested Mitchell and Andrew Golden, 11, in Tuesday's shootings, and both have been charged in juvenile court with multiple capital murder and battery charges.
Candace, a sixth-grade honor roll student, said she knew little about Mitchell when she agreed to be his girlfriend about a month ago.
''I thought he was nice, and then I found out he was trouble,'' she said. ''He was always talking about fighting other people. He'd say he was going to beat them up the next day. He called one of our music teachers a bad name that I can't say.''
Sitting on a couch and clutching a stuffed animal, Candace said it had been rumored around school that Mitchell was carrying a ''death list'' containing the names of students he intended to kill.
She said she had also heard at school that Mitchell was telling other students Tuesday's outcome would determine whether some of them lived or died.
''I thought he was bragging, like always,'' she said. ''I didn't think he was going to hurt anybody really.''
After the shootings, Kara Tate, one of Candace's classmates, said Mitchell had previously threatened to shoot Candace.
''He said yesterday he was going to do it,'' 11-year-old Kara said. ''He said he was definitely going to shoot Candace because she had broken up with him. Mitchell said he was going to shoot Candace, then kill everybody else in the building.''
When Candace told Mitchell she didn't want to be his girlfriend, he turned and walked away, she recalled. She said she was never worried he might try to hurt her because ''boys don't hit girls.''
Brushing strands of long brown hair away from her freckled face, Candace talked calmly about the shootings.
''We were going outside, and we heard these shots,'' she said. ''We thought it may have been a test to see how we'd react to such a thing. After we heard the shots, we knew it wasn't a test because there was people falling to the ground and stuff.''
Candace said teachers told the children to run to the gymnasium next door. As she ran toward the building, a bullet struck her in her right side. She said she felt a stinging sensation, but she kept running until she reached the gym.
''They told me to sit up against a wall,'' she said. ''I was bleeding a little.''
Whitney Irving, one of Candace's schoolmates, was seated beside her with a gunshot wound to the back, Candace said. Many of the children were screaming and crying for their parents. They could still hear the steady sound of gunfire outside, she said.
In surgery, doctors removed a bullet from Candace; it had penetrated little more than skin.
''It's a miracle,'' said her mother, Kim Porter. ''The surgeon said the Lord grabbed her and turned her just the right way.''
Candace will return today to the familiar school building for the first time since the shooting. ''I'm never going outside again,'' she said. ''I'll go out for recess, but not for a fire alarm.''
Copyright © 1998 Associated Press