Gunfire in LR claims 2 lives over weekend
6 people hurt; arrest made; board to vote on proposal
As Little Rock police and city officials work to address gun crime in the city, another violent weekend has claimed two lives and injured six, according to police reports.
Gerardo Castanon, 21, was arrested by Little Rock police Monday and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of criminal attempted murder in a Friday shooting in the 10000 block of Mabelvale Pike Road.
Police responded to a shooting about 6:30 p.m., a news release says. Jose and Omar Bustos were found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the release. Omar Bustos was transported to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital and Jose Bustos to Baptist Hospital, where he later died.
The arrest comes a day before the Little Rock Board of Directors will vote on giving 10 organizations each $200,000 in hopes of battling crime in the city.
Earlier this month, the board approved an emergency public health order for gun violence after a series of shootings left 11 injured in a four-day span.
Joan Adcock, a city director, said she planned to vote against tonight’s resolution because of lack of information. She said directors were sent names of organizations with no other details about the groups.
“I have no idea who ‘FAB44’ is and I don’t know what ‘the day labor’ is,” Adcock said Monday.
Adcock agreed the city is in an emergency situation with crime but she said she couldn’t give money to organizations without more facts.
“I don’t see these programs addressing the things we did in the ’90s,” Adcock said. “In the ’90s we had to take a strong stance on stuff, and I don’t know if these programs have a strong enough stance.”
Kathy Wells, president of the Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods, said her group has been researching shootings since the 1990s as well.
She said her group wants more details about the programs the city is proposing to fund. These include which populations the organizations will be targeting and how much of that population the programs plan to reach.
The organization also would like to see a clear list of tasks the city plans to undertake in regards to violence, she said.
She said the city and Police Department should be looking for ways to work with federal and state agencies for more resources throughout the justice system.
“More police will lead to more cases for the public defenders,” Wells said. “The prosecutors have been pointing out that they are short of what they need to do their job as expected.”
The Mabelvale Pike Road shooting was the first of three shootings that police responded to Friday night. Five minutes after, police were dispatched to another call for a gunshot victim at the 4400 block of Pine Cone Drive.
Police found a 28-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his left buttock at the residence. The victim told police he was walking home on Reck Road when a man with a ski mask jumped out of a vehicle and shot at him, reports say.
About four hours later, at 11:23 p.m. Little Rock police responded to 224 E. Seventh Street. Police found two victims shot at the scene — A 66-year-old homeless woman and a 26-year-old Little Rock man. Both of the victims were transported to UAMS for wounds that were not considered life-threatening.
A third gunshot victim was found at a separate location, the report states. The person was later identified as Rickey Braggs, 37, of Little Rock.
He was transported to UAMS, where he later died.
On Saturday night, police responded to three more gun-related incidents. The first call came in at 7:29 p.m. at the 8815 Baseline Road Popeyes location.
A 26-year-old woman told police she was shot at when stopped at the light in front of the fast-food restaurant after an altercation with another female in the drive-thru line. Police reported the woman’s vehicle was struck on the hood and passenger side front and back doors.
Jacob Udell, 21, of Little Rock was charged with first-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm and three counts of terroristic acts in the shooting.
Less than an hour later, police responded to 4506 W. 25th Street to a report of a shooting. Police found a 37-year-old homeless man shot in the leg.
The third shooting of the night came at 11:56 at 5001 W. 65th Street. A woman was sitting in her vehicle near her apartment building when she heard gunshots from behind her, a report says.
The woman, 28, ducked as glass shattered in the car. She put the vehicle in drive and pulled up to the front of the apartment building and ran inside. She told police she believed the gunshots could have came from a nearby baseball field.
Early Sunday morning, at an unknown time, a woman told police she was leaving a bar at 109 Main Street when she exchanged words with an acquaintance walking his dog on the street.
She started filming the man during the exchange, the report says. Officers viewed the footage and saw the man point a gun at the victim. He at times removed it and would point it back at the victim, the report says. He eventually struck the victim in the face with the gun, knocking her to the ground.
The name of the man was not given to police but the victim provided an Instagram account through which the man continued to contact her, the report says.
During the early morning hours Monday, police responded to CHI St. Vincent Infirmary for a report of a gunshot victim. The man told police he was at an unknown residence near Asher Avenue when a man came to the house accusing him of having a relationship with his girlfriend.
The suspect pulled a gun and the victim instinctively shielded his face with his hands. The suspect pulled the trigger shooting him in the hand, right oblique and left hip.