A witness told police a drug deal turned fatal early Friday morning, leaving a man dead at his home across the street from an elementary school in west Little Rock.
"A lot of our homicides do have relations to narcotics," said Lt. Steve McClanahan, a spokesman for Little Rock police.
The city's 20th homicide of 2016 occurred at 12:50 a.m. at 10915 Mara Lynn Road. Police found 24-year-old Lawrence Ibekwe dead in Apartment B of the duplex. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, McClanahan said.
No arrests have been made in the shooting. McClanahan said authorities are looking for two suspects, but he said that could change as the investigation moves forward.
In the incident report, a witness said two men he didn't know arrived at the apartment to buy drugs. One of the men pulled a gun and told the witness and Ibekwe to lie on the floor while the other man ran to back of the residence, the report said. The witness told police Ibekwe refused to lie down and then fought the suspect with the gun.
The witness said the man shot at Ibekwe multiple times before fleeing, according to the report. Police said the other man also ran from the residence.
Medical personnel pronounced Ibekwe dead at the scene.
Two other witnesses were asleep in the back of the apartment during the shooting. The report said they found Ibekwe lying in a pool of blood near the front door after hearing the shots.
The homicide was the second in August on Mara Lynn Road. Nicholas Beasley, 28, is accused of shooting Jarvis Garner, 20, in the parking lot at the EZ Mart at 11911 Mara Lynn in the 19th Little Rock homicide of 2016.
The duplex where the shooting happened is located across the street from Terry Elementary School. McClanahan said drugs being near a school was concerning, but there was no reason to lock the school down since the crime occurred in the middle of the night.
Police were still investigating the scene at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for the full story.
