NLR police seek man in deadly shooting

An Arkansas man being sought on a capital murder charge in a shooting in North Little Rock on Tuesday was also treated for a gunshot wound that day, according to authorities.

North Little Rock police said in a news release that a warrant has been issued for 30-year-old Charles Brent Gant in the death of 31-yearold Pedro Omar Baez Esperanza. Gant was considered armed and dangerous and was still at large Thursday.

Baez Esperanza was found with a gunshot wound in his torso when police arrived around 12:50 p.m. Tuesday to the area of Vine and East 14th streets in response to a call. He was taken to UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.

Later that day, Gant was treated for a minor gunshot wound.

Officers arrived at CHI St. Vincent hospital around 1:29 p.m. and found Gant, who told them a gunman opened fire on his group outside an apartment complex in Little Rock, according to a police report.

He said the shooting happened between 12:15 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. as he was standing with a few other people outside the complex in the 5800 block of Baseline Road, the report said.

Gant told police a white Crown Victoria had stopped in the area, and a gunman got out and started shooting, at which point he ran.

“It was not until approximately 45 minutes later that he noticed blood coming from the left side of his chest,” police wrote in the report. Gant’s injury was not believed to be life-threatening, an officer noted.

The police reports listed different last known addresses for Gant.