Report: Bullet cuts man’s spine
More details emerge of shootout at gas pumps
A search warrant filed recently in Miller County sheds light on an Aug. 24 convenience store confrontation that ended with two men suffering from gunshot wounds.
Michael Clark, 18, and Kartavious Eason, 19, were both injured Aug. 24 in a shootout at the Stop n Shop at 710 E. Fourth St., according to a search warrant affidavit used to create the following account. Clark was shot three times, once in his left calf, once in his right thigh and once in his lower back. The bullet that entered Clark’s lower back severed his spine before damaging internal organs.
Eason quickly fled the scene in an SUV being driven by Cherrell Rogers. Texarkana, Ark., police interviewed Eason at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System shortly after the shooting. Texarkana, Texas, police attempted to stop the SUV for erratic driving in the 2700 block of State Line Avenue, but the driver, allegedly Rogers, would not pull over until she reached the hospital’s emergency bay. Rogers allegedly had her infant child in the car with her.
Eason, whose injury was nonlife-threatening, allegedly provided officers with evasive answers and claimed Clark began shooting after Eason exited the SUV to pump gas. Eason allegedly claimed that Clark had two guns, denied that he fired a weapon and told the officer to “watch the security video if I wanted to know what happened.”
“I then asked Eason how Michael Clark had come to suffer a gunshot wound if he (Eason) did not shoot at him,” the affidavit states. “Upon hearing this, Eason smiled and asked if Michael (Clark) had really been shot.”
Video surveillance footage that captured the gunplay allegedly shows that Clark was parked at the gas pumps when Eason and Rogers pulled in and stopped next to Clark’s car.
“It appears Eason exited the vehicle and gunfire was exchanged between the two almost immediately,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit does not address what motive the men had for shooting at each other. Eason is being held in the Miller County jail. Information concerning Clark’s current condition was not available Friday.