Early in 2000, a 6-year-old girl in Michigan was shot and killed by a first-grade classmate. The young boy brought a loaded gun to school and shot her after a petty conflict developed during class. He later claimed that he had only intended to scare her but that the gun "went off." The bullet struck the little girl in the throat, and she died a short time later. No one was surprised to discover that the 6-year-old killer was being raised in neglectful and abusive circumstances, complicated by his caretaker's drug abuse. Amid reactions of shock and outrage, one question was repeated over and over: How could it happen?