2 arrests linked to drive-by shootings

After a high-speed chase that spanned Little Rock and North Little Rock on Monday, officers arrested two Little Rock men in connection with multiple shootings over the weekend.

Little Rock police arrested Wesley Kirkpatrick, 24, and Siddick Bubakar Haidara, 19, after they were reportedly involved in drive-by shootings on Saturday and Sunday, Little Rock police spokesman Steve Moore said.

On Saturday, officers said several bullets from an AK47-style firearm struck at least two houses in the 1400 block of Wolfe Street. Four people were in one of the houses at the time of the shooting and three were in the other, but officers reported that no one was injured.

Just one day later, Moore said, someone shot toward another two residences, both of which were occupied. After the drive-by shooting, one of the homeowners told police she received several texts from Kirkpatrick saying he was going to return to the house and “shoot it up again,” according to a police report.

Residents at both shootings identified a bright blue Subaru with a large spoiler and out-of-state tags as the car from which men were shooting, Moore said.

Little Rock police officers spotted the blue car Monday and pursued it from Shackleford Road in west Little Rock onto Interstate 40 to Lake Lane in North Little Rock. State police and Pulaski County deputies joined in the chase, which lasted more than an hour.

Officers located the blue car abandoned on the side of Lake Lane and later found Kirkpatrick and Haidara fleeing on foot.

Kirkpatrick was reportedly involved in both shootings, whereas Haidara was only charged in connection with one.

Haidara was in the Pulaski County jail facing a misdemeanor charge of fleeing and seven felony charges of terroristic acts as of Monday evening. Kirkpatrick was charged with 10 counts of terroristic acts — one for each of the lives he is accused of endangering during the shootings.

Haidara had a bond of $460 for an unrelated failure-to-appear charge but had no bond set for the drive-by shooting as of Monday evening. Kirkpatrick had not yet been booked into the jail as of Monday evening, as Moore said officers were likely still interviewing him.