Officers kill man, say suspect held ‘long gun’

Little Rock police investigation continues

Little Rock police continue to investigate the fatal shooting of a 46-year-old man by an officer who was responding to a disturbance call early Tuesday morning.

Roy Lee Richards of Little Rock was armed with a “long gun” when officers responded to a call at 512 E. Eighth St. at 12:37 a.m., according to a police report. One of the officers reportedly “engaged” and then shot Richards, who died at the scene, the report said.

“Our [step] now is to have due process take place, to make sure that a thorough investigation is being conducted, to make sure we are satisfied with the information that we have,” Police Chief Kenton Buckner said at the scene early Tuesday.

Buckner said the Little Rock Police Department will strive to be transparent with the public while also respecting the integrity of the investigation.

The department declined to identify the two officers Tuesday. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, and the department’s homicide unit is investigating the fatal shooting.

Lt. Steve McClanahan, a spokesman for the Police Department, said there is body microphone audio of the shooting, but there is no dash camera footage because of where the vehicles were parked. He expected more details of the case to be made public today, and said the city attorney’s office was reviewing a press release about the shooting.

Richards’ uncle, Derrell Underwood, 53, who lives in the 500 block of East Eighth Street, told police his nephew had driven to his home early Tuesday in a 2000 Chevrolet TrailBlazer and started an altercation that turned physical.

Underwood said his nephew went to the Chevrolet and returned carrying a rifle, according to the report.

He told police that Richards began moving toward him while pointing the rifle when police arrived and “engaged” his nephew.

Song Fox, who lives in an apartment in the 500 block of East Eighth Street, said she called police when she heard gunshots shortly after waking up around 12:40 a.m.

Fox said she awoke to a car alarm blaring, then heard a man outside screaming at another person who was responding in a quieter voice.

“One guy was just going off, it sounded like he was maybe hitting the car,” Fox said.

Then, Fox said she heard “a bunch of gunshots” followed by a man saying, “Please stop shooting.”

Fox said she did not see the shooting, but called the police and reported the shots fired.

Deadly force by police officers has become a topic of national conversation as officer-involved shootings in cities like Charlotte, N.C., and a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., have sparked protests and have put pressure on departments to be transparent in their investigations.

In 2016, police in Arkansas have killed 17 people.

Speaking Tuesday at a meeting with the city’s Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission, Buckner said the wide majority of police interactions with the public do not end in an officer using force.

He said no officer wants to use deadly force on a subject, and the aftermath of using deadly force can be a “nightmare” for that officer and his family.

Yet, he said some of the scrutiny and suspicion police departments and chiefs receive surrounding officers’ use of deadly force is warranted.

“Some of the criticism we have is self-inflicted by our behavior of not being professional,” he said. “And I have to get those apples out of my barrel, but I can tell you I’m trying.”

A December 2010 Little Rock police shooting made headlines again this month when the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported problems with a police investigation into the death of 67-yearold Eugene Ellison, who was shot by an off-duty officer.

In sworn depositions, Assistant Chief Wayne Bewley and former Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas conceded that the department likely failed to adequately scrutinize officer Donna Lesher’s account of the fatal shooting and Ellison’s autopsy, according to the article.

A Police Department official said recently that the department would begin accepting bids for body cameras — a tool seen to increase transparency within departments — in the coming weeks.