State briefs
Police say 2 teens dead in apartment shooting
LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock Police say a second teenager has died after a shooting at an apartment complex Friday night.
Police said 19-year-old Stevie Howard died at a hospital Saturday from his wounds. Officers said the other victim, 19-year-old Lewis Wallace, was dead at the scene when they arrived.
Police said in a statement that officers responded late Friday to reports of a shooting at an apartment complex near Interstate 30. They discovered Wallace and Howard in the courtyard area each with multiple gunshot wounds.
Detectives say two men were seen fleeing the area after the shooting and are investigating.
Arkansas Democrats pick House minority leader as party chair
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Democrats have selected state Rep. Michael John Gray as chairman of the party.
Democrats on Saturday selected Gray, who defeated Fayetteville nonprofit executive Denise Garner by a vote of 120-107.
Gray will replace outgoing chairman Vincent Insalaco, who announced last year that he wouldn’t seek a third term.
Gray, an Augusta farmer, said his party needed to develop a sharper focus on economic issues and pick up support in poor and rural areas.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Gray will step down as leader of the House Democratic caucus but will continue to serve in the state Legislature.
Police: Man who pointed gun at officers fatally shot
LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock police are investigating after officers fatally shot a man who they say pointed a gun at them following a foot chase down an alley.
The department says the shooting happened early Sunday morning when officers were approached by a citizen who told them a man had pointed a gun at him.
As officers approached, police said in a statement that he fled down an alley, then turned around with a gun in his hand and raised it “as if to fire” at the officers.
Police said officers then shot the man, who died later at a hospital of multiple gunshot wounds.
The department says the officers were placed on routine administrative leave. It didn’t identify the man who was killed or the number of officers who shot him.