Blue bandanna worn to park leads to shooting

— A blue bandanna worn to a Little Rock park sparked an altercation that ended with one man being shot, police said.

It happened about 5 p.m. Tuesday near Pettaway Park in the 2200 block of Commerce Street. Police say they are investigating to determine if the incident is gang-related.

Blue bandannas are sometimes worn to show affiliation with a gang known as "Crips". One rival gang known as "Bloods" typically wear red colors to express their affiliation with the gang.

The victim, identified in a police report as 26-year-old Antonio Young, was taken to UAMS Medical Center with a gunshot wound in his right leg. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

According to a Little Rock Police Department report, the incident started when Geneva Young, 25, was visiting friends near the park with her sister and two brothers. Young was wearing a blue bandanna, prompting a man nicknamed "Tight Head" to become angry, take it off her head and burn it, police said.

"[Geneva Young] stated several subjects began to yell at her stating she should not have wore those blue colors to the park," police wrote in the report. "[Geneva Young] stated that her brother [Antonio Young] began to defend her when several subjects began to jump on him and [hit] him several times."

Geneva Young told investigators that the man who burned the bandanna later attempted to run over her brother before another man came up and began to shoot toward Antonio Young.

Geneva Young ran with her other two siblings from the area, losing track of Antonio Young, the report said. Police found him a short time later walking from a residence in the 2300 block of South Bragg Street with the gunshot wound.

According to the report, Antonio Young said the man nicknamed "Tight Head" was the one who shot him. Geneva Young and her sister said it was someone else they didn't know who was shooting.

Police spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said authorities are still investigating the incident.

"The shooting in Pettaway park initiated because someone was wearing a blue bandana," she said in an email. "Because of that information officers will look into the possibility of this being gang related."

No arrests have been made.

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