Man killed after crash, police shots

One person died and two officers were injured Saturday morning in a vehicle crash and an officer-involved shooting in Little Rock, the city’s police chief said.

Speaking at the scene, Chief Kenton Buckner said it was unclear whether the man died from the crash or from gunfire by at least one police officer.

Around 4 a.m., an officer called for assistance while working off-duty as a security guard at Local Union, a bar and grill in the Prospect Building at 1501 N. University Ave., Buckner said. An online dispatch log shows that police were called to the building at 4:17 a.m. to help with “unknown trouble.”

Buckner said there was a disturbance in the parking lot and that shots were fired by police. During the encounter, a vehicle crashed through a brick wall that separated the parking lot from the street, he said.

He said the driver of the vehicle died at the scene. Buckner said the man was black and appeared to be in his mid-20s.

“We’re unsure right now if the deceased individual died from the car wreck that resulted or if it was from the shots fired,” he said Saturday morning, adding that police didn’t know if any bullets had actually hit the man.

Two Little Rock officers were taken to a hospital for treatment of what did not appear to be life-threatening injuries, Buckner said. Their injuries appeared to be from when the vehicle struck the officers, he said. One of the officers had injuries to his “lower extremities,” and the second officer’s injuries were unknown Saturday morning.

“They’re still doing testing on that individual,” Buckner said.

As of late Saturday, police had not yet identified the people involved in the encounter.

Police Department spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan said that information, along with other details about the encounter, will be released Monday. He said police were withholding certain details because one of the officers was under medication because of her injuries and had not yet spoken with investigators.

Both officers were released from the hospital by Saturday afternoon. They were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, in accordance with department policy.

“Thankfully, their injuries were not serious,” McClanahan said.

Police cordoned off part of North University Avenue on Saturday morning as officers investigated. The department announced at 10:24 a.m. that the roadway had been reopened.

The shooting was the sixth involving Little Rock police this year.

In February, officer Angela Everett fatally shot Gregory Childress, 44, after Childress tried to rob her at gunpoint, police said. Everett had been working off-duty as a security guard and was wearing her police uniform at the time.

In March, officers Brian Osmundson and Samuel Hill fatally shot Michael Hornibrook, 54, in the city’s River Market District downtown, according to reports. Police said the officers shot Hornibrook when he raised a gun toward them. Prosecutors cleared the officers of any legal wrongdoing.

In April, officer Jonathan Gonzalez fatally shot Austin Dakota Snyder, 22, as Snyder tried to flee police in a hotel parking lot, the department reported. Snyder reportedly rammed a vehicle and ignored commands to show his hands before Gonzalez opened fire, police said.

In July, officer Ralph Breshears shot Rudy Avila, 22, outside a Chick-fil-A in west Little Rock after Avila stole a vehicle, drove toward the officer and refused to stop, according to police.

Last month, officer Stephen Lichti and Sgt. Zachary Farley shot Lavar Henderson, 22, while investigating a report of domestic battery, police said. Henderson was reportedly hiding in a dark area when he confronted the lawmen and pointed his cellphone at them as if it were a pistol, according to police.

The Police Department’s use-of-force policy states that officers can use deadly force only to “protect themselves or others from what they reasonably believe to be an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury.”

Buckner said police did not know what led to Saturday morning’s disturbance. Buckner said the off-duty officer working at Local Union was in uniform at the time and that it was too early to tell whether the deceased man was at the bar before the disturbance.

“We just know that everything started in the parking lot,” he said.