Jacksonville gunfire injures Conway man

A man was shot Tuesday afternoon during “an apparent drug deal” near a fastfood restaurant, authorities said.

Officers were sent at 4:45 p.m. to the Zaxby’s at 209 Marshall Road in Jacksonville, according to an arrest report.

The victim, listed as Cody Beaty of Conway, told officers he and another person picked up 21-year-old Devin Smith and 17-year-old Jason Bridges in the 200 block of Marshall.

The pair asked the vehicle’s occupants if they smoked weed, the report states, but when Beaty asked about the price, Bridges put a gun to his head. Smith and Bridges then tried to rob the people inside the vehicle, according to a news release from the Jacksonville Police Department.

Beaty told authorities the two people eventually got out and that the teen fired multiple rounds into the vehicle. One bullet hit Beaty in the buttocks, police said. His injury was described as non-life-threatening.

A witness saw Smith and Bridges run into the woods between Zaxby’s and North Metro Medical Center, where authorities later found them, police noted.

Each was charged with first-degree battery, aggravated robbery, terroristic act and three misdemeanor offenses.

Smith, a North Little Rock resident, remained at the Pulaski County jail Wednesday afternoon with no bail set, records show. He is to appear in court Aug. 16.

Bridges is expected to be tried as an adult, Jacksonville police spokesman April Kiser said. The Maumelle teen did not appear on the jail’s online inmate roster Wednesday.