NLR police fatally shoot man
Post-office standoff leads to lockdown at nearby school
North Little Rock police on Friday morning shot and killed an armed man who took refuge in a North Little Rock post office after authorities confronted him, the city’s chief of police said.
Three officers involved in the encounter were placed on administrative leave following the standoff with the man, which “evolved rapidly” and led to a lockdown of the nearby North Little Rock High School for safety, Chief Patrick Thessing said.
He did not identify the dead man, saying authorities needed to first notify the next of kin. Police did not permit any questions at a Friday afternoon news conference.
Placing officers on administrative leave while they are subject to an internal investigation is in line with the department’s policy.
U.S. marshals searching for the man, who was under investigation for reportedly shooting at a bail bondsman on Monday and was wanted on outstanding warrants, notified North Little Rock officers when they spotted him near Pershing Boulevard and Main Street about 8:05 a.m., Thessing said.
The man reportedly flashed a weapon at the marshals as they tried to arrest him and ran into the U.S. post office at 300 W. Pershing Blvd.
North Little Rock High School, the Hays Center and the North Little Rock Community Center were locked down and traffic was closed on Pershing from Main Street to Percy Machin Drive, according to a Police Department news release Friday morning.
Police said the subject fled from a bail bondsman and was spotted by the post office. Authorities then got a call from the post office saying that the subject was in
side. Police then secured the area and called in special operations teams and negotiators, according to the release.
Officers were able to safely evacuate bystanders from the post office, and SWAT officers were able to get an employee out of the post office. Negotiators and a mental health professional working for the department were also on the scene.
A woman heading into the Medicine Man Pharmacy located across the street from the police staging area asked what the situation was.
When told by reporters a person was barricaded in the post office, she said, “Crazy world! Gave me goosebumps.”
By 9:30 a.m., the North Little Rock School District issued the following statement:
“The community incident has been resolved. North Little Rock High School, the Center of Excellence and Central Office sites will now resume normal operations.
“The staff parking lot at the high school building is currently closed until emergency crews clear the area around the incident.”
The police at the Pershing intersection, along with the North Little Rock Fire Department vehicles in the staging area, began leaving about 9:40.
At 10:20, only a handful of police vehicles remained on site. Post office workers were located under the awning of a North Little Rock High School building across from the post office, talking to a police officer. Shortly after, the officer escorted them farther away from the scene, where a single strip of yellow crime scene tape was wrapped around the awning at the post office’s entrance.
Thessing did not give details about what led to officers opening fire, saying those facts are part of the ongoing investigation. Officers attempted to give first aid to the wounded man, but he died of his wounds, Thessing said.
No one else was injured in the encounter, he said.