Police heed shots alert, find body at LR lane

Spokesman praises new high-tech tool

Officers responding to a ShotSpotter report of gunfire found a dead man Wednesday night near West 29th Street in Little Rock, a police spokesman said.

At 7:32 p.m. Wednesday the Little Rock Police Department’s ShotSpotter, a new high-tech gunfire detection system, identified multiple gunshots in the area of 5202 W. 29th St. in the Curran Conway neighborhood, spokesman Eric Barnes said.

While looking for shell casings, officers found a dead man lying just off a small, unlabeled roadway, Barnes said. Officers believe the man died from gunshots that the new ShotSpotter detected, he said.

No one called 911 to report the gunfire or that a person had been shot, Barnes said, meaning officers have no information on suspects, and nothing to tell them what might have led up to the slaying.

This is the first instance in which ShotSpotter alone has led to the discovery of a gunshot victim, Barnes said. ShotSpotter has recorded multiple gunshots since its implementation in December.

ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system that uses sensors to recognize and locate gunfire. The department’s ShotSpotter currently covers a 2-square-mile area of the city, and Barnes said the detector was placed in a highcrime area.

“ShotSpotter got us to this area quick enough to preserve what we have, with this weather coming in,” Barnes said, referring to the light mist falling on the neighborhood. “We’re trying to maintain what we have and get closure for this victim’s family.”

At 8:30 p.m., officers were still taping off a section of the neighborhood and knocking on doors.

Between West 28th and West 29th streets there is an alleyway where the pavement has given way to weeds and erosion. Barnes said it was just to the side of one of those lanes that officers found the slain man.

Barnes asked anyone with information to contact the department. Little is known about the shooting or what led up to the city’s fifth homicide of 2019.