LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock man was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon just a few blocks from his home on South Valentine Street, police said.
Officers were called to an area near 19th and South Brown streets about 3:45 p.m. where they found Antonio Nelson, 29, of 2105 S. Valentine St. lying in the road with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Nelson, who had been shot with a large-caliber handgun, was taken to UAMS Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m., police said.
Detectives determined the gunman chased Nelson from the west side of the intersection to the east side, all the while firing a handgun, police spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said.
After Nelson fell to the ground on the east side of the intersection, the gunman fled back west.
The intersection is bordered by two empty lots on the east side, a house on the northwest corner of the street and an abandoned house on the southwest corner. Police said the intersection is part of a known drug area but could not say why Nelson was on foot several blocks from his home or whether the shooting was drug-related.
The gunman was described as a black male wearing black jeans, a black jacket and a red shirt.
No arrest had been made in the slaying Wednesday night, but by Wednesday evening several witnesses had been interviewed at the downtown detectives office.
Wednesday’s shooting was the eighth homicide in the city this year and the latest since Garrick Smith, 19, was found dead outside 1 Saxony Circle from a gunshot wound Jan. 29.
In that case, an unidentified witness told police that just before he heard gunshots, he saw a group of men leave the Saxony Circle area in three vehicles, a police report said.
No arrests have been made in Smith’s slaying.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/09/2012