Gunplay increase worries LR chief
Two teens latest shooting victims
As Pastor Roy Allison prepared for a Palm Sunday service at Faith Memorial Baptist Church in Little Rock, members of his congregation alerted him to a bleeding teenager in the church’s foyer.
“They said a young man had been shot,” Allison said.
He went to the vestibule at the front of the building, where he found a 16-yearold bleeding from a gunshot wound, Allison said.
The teenager had run to the West 29th Street church after being shot about four blocks away near the intersection of Washington and West 27th streets Sunday morning, said officer Steve Moore, a Police Department spokesman.
A second 16-year-old boy had also been injured in the shooting and was found by authorities within a few blocks of the scene, Moore said.
Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said officers were called to the intersection at 11:06 a.m. for a report of a shooting.
Police found a stolen vehicle at the location, but Buckner said it was unclear midday Sunday what role, if any, the vehicle played in the shooting. Authorities also found weapons at the scene, he said.
The two teenagers did not have life-threatening injuries and were taken to an area hospital.
Standing outside the crime scene tape midday Sunday, Buckner said the shooting is an example of a
violent crime pattern that began near the end of last year.
Buckner said the shooting is part of a pattern of “young black males engaged in criminal activity, specifically violent crime.”
“Often both the victims and suspects in these cases are young African-American males,” Buckner said, mentioning the cases have caused frustration and fear in the community.
While he said police are working hard to combat the violent crimes, the department cannot be the sole entity responsible.
“There has to be some accountability from our community, specifically from the families and the parents of these individuals,” he said. “Because also, [as] part of that pattern, many of these folks appear to be getting younger and younger.”
According to department data, about 76 percent of the nonfatal shooting victims in 2016 were black males. In those cases, about 68 percent of the shooting suspects were black, data show. Demographic information on 27 percent of the shooting suspects was unknown, according to the data.
In 2016, 150 people survived shootings in Little Rock, according to the department.
Buckner said adults responsible for a child’s well-being have a responsibility to keep them out of trouble and out of criminal activity.
“That starts in the home,” Buckner said. “It starts with having positive examples of what’s expected of an adult. It starts with taking advantage of getting an education. It starts with fathers being a role model and spending time with their kids.”
Little Rock recorded 15 homicides between January and March of this year — the highest number of killings the city has seen in the three-month period in at least a decade. There have been 17 homicides as of Sunday afternoon, and more than half those victims were between the ages of 18 and 24.
In the double shooting Sunday, Buckner said that police were early in the investigation and did not have a suspect.
The crime scene on West 27th Street stretched from Peyton Street through West 27th Street’s intersection with Washington Street on Sunday afternoon.
Investigators inspected a light blue car on West 27th Street, its front end crumpled by the impact with a silver four-door car.
Bright yellow evidence markers littered the front porch of 4424 W. 27th St., and were scattered around a grassy area near the porch and into the street.
Two boys strolled next to the crime scene and peered at the house. A driver slowed to a stop and wondered aloud what had happened.
Residents in the neighborhood also gathered outside to view the scene.
Neighbor Brad Tillman, 50, said he rolled out of bed and hit the ground after the shots rang out. He said the shots seemed to be fired right near his residence.
After the shots, he said he heard a loud car crash.
“You could hear them taking off, then ‘crunch,’” he said.
Hearing shots in the neighborhood is common, Tillman said.
“Gunfire every night, every night,” he said, mentioning that the shooting seems to get worse on the weekends.
Tillman has noticed more police patrolling the area, something he said has seemed to help reduce the gunfire.
At Faith Memorial, Allison said that after he found the bleeding teen, he saw two other people run toward the shooting victim. The pastor said he was unsure whether the two were friends or enemies to the victim.
“I thought they were coming to finish him,” Allison said.
The two were buddies of the shooting victim, he said, and they checked in on the 16-year-old boy before fleeing.
As the pastor tended to the wounded teen just outside the sanctuary, the parishioners inside began with prayers, he said.
“The congregation knew what to do,” Allison said.