Inmate a suspect in nightclub shooting

Little Rock police Thursday said a 26-year-old inmate in Tennessee will be the third person to face charges in the mass shooting at the Power Ultra Lounge last summer.

Cordero Ragland is suspected of opening fire on July 1 at the nightclub, a shooting that left 25 people shot and three otherwise injured, according to Little Rock police spokesman officer Steve Moore. The Police Department announced on social media that authorities had obtained warrants for the arrest of Ragland on several charges tied to the nightclub shooting.

At the nightclub, Ragland was acting as a bodyguard to Memphis rapper Ricky Hampton, who was onstage performing as Finese2Tymes when gunfire plunged the venue into chaos, according to Moore.

Another bodyguard for Hampton, Kentrell Gwynn, has been arrested on charges tied to the gunfire. And Tyler Clay Jackson, the suspected initial shooter at the nightclub, also has been arrested and faces state charges.

Ragland, who was in custody in Tennessee as of Thursday afternoon, will have to be sent back to Arkansas to be served with the warrants, according to Moore.

Earlier this year, federal authorities said the Power Ultra Lounge shooting was precipitated by a rivalry between Real Hustlers Incorporated, a Bloods-affiliated gang formerly known as the Monroe Street Hustlers, and the Wolfe Street Crips. A Little Rock police report shows 13 guns were fired inside the nightclub.

In federal court last month, a Pulaski County sheriff’s investigator testified that an argument leading up to the shooting involved a person seen as disrespecting a gang member who had recently died. The official also testified that Jackson, the suspected initial shooter, had targeted a rival gang member during the incident.

Online records from the Shelby County sheriff’s office in Tennessee show that Ragland was booked into jail in November, charged with evading arrest and being a felon in possession of a handgun.

When he is returned to Arkansas, Ragland will be served with warrants related to five counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm by certain persons and one count of tampering with evidence, according to the Little Rock police social media post.