Technology, not callers, leads LR police to slaying victim

Police say no one called 911 late Wednesday when shots rang out in a Little Rock neighborhood, leaving a man to die in an alleyway fewer than 40 feet from nearby residences.

ShotSpotter, the Little Rock Police Department’s gunshot-detection system, tracked multiple gunshots at 7:32 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 5202 W. 29th St., police spokesman Eric Barnes said.

Less than 10 minutes after the the system reported gunfire, officers found the body of Wiley Lamont Carr, 43, who Barnes said had died from a gunshot wound, lying on the ground in an alley.

With each ShotSpotter call, Barnes said officers go to the location the detector pinpoints and look for shell casings, bystanders or any evidence that a crime was committed. Though Barnes said the technology has detected multiple gunshots since it was implemented on Dec. 19, residents or bystanders to gunfire normally call 911 and give officers some understanding of what they may be facing.

Barnes said he could give no estimate of how often or how many times the ShotSpotter reported gunfire since it was installed.

There is approximately a

minute delay between the the system “hearing” gunfire and officers being dispatched, Barnes said. The information is immediately routed to ShotSpotter’s call center, which verifies that the sound it detected was gunfire and then dispatches police, he said.

Only once before has ShotSpotter been the only indication of a crime, Barnes said. On Dec. 24, officers responded to a report of gunshots and found a vehicle that had been shot, according to a police report. The woman driving the car wasn’t injured and was able to speak with officers about what happened, the report said.

The homicide Wednesday was the first time that the gunshot detector led officers to a

body.

Barnes said the detector often relays information faster than 911 callers, allowing officers to respond quickly, but gives no contextual information. Because no one called 911, immediately determining what happened or why Carr was shot is difficult, Barnes said Wednesday night at the scene.

Without the system, though, Barnes said police may not have known about the shooting until someone found Carr’s body the next day.

Residents in the neighborhood where Carr’s body was found gave conflicting reasons as to why they didn’t call 911 Wednesday night.

Some said they had hear, gunshots so often that they didn’t feel the need to report.

Others said they were shocked at hearing gunshots so close to their homes.

Another said police usually follow gunshots anyway, so there was no need to call.

“Normally, police will come out after shots,” said Andrew Amos, who has lived on West 28th Street for two years. “Scared me. I looked out of the door and went right back in.”

The city purchased a twoyear agreement with ShotSpotter with a $290,000 federal grant last July. The system currently monitors 2 square miles of Little Rock. Though the location of the system’s detectors has not been released, Barnes said the system was installed in a high-crime area.

Though no crime was recorded in 2017 and 2018 in the block where Carr’s body was found, the area has been the site of aggravated assaults, robberies, thefts and burglaries, according to data from the Police Department.

Carr did not live in the area; a police report listed his address as 44 Southern Oaks Drive, which is about 3 miles south of West 29th Street. Why Carr was in the area was not

immediately clear.

Carr was listed as one of Pulaski County’s Most Wanted in 1996 because of outstanding drug warrants, and has a long history of arrests in Little Rock.

Carr was convicted in 1999 at the age of 23 of two charges of rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to court documents.

While in prison, Carr pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated assault and terroristic threatening, court records show.

In 2017, after being imprisoned 18 years, Carr was arrested again on domestic battery and terroristic threatening charges. He was arrested four more times in 2018 on charges of domestic battery, failing to register as a sex offender, tampering with physical evidence, resisting arrest, fleeing, disorderly conduct, drug possession and driving while intoxicated.