Officers open fire; Little Rock man wounded

Victim spoke of killing, chief says

Little Rock police officers work at the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 34 Harrow Drive on Monday night. An unidentifi ed man was shot and taken to a hospital in serious condition, police said.
Little Rock police officers work at the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 34 Harrow Drive on Monday night. An unidentifi ed man was shot and taken to a hospital in serious condition, police said.

A man who told a police dispatcher that he had killed a person was shot by police Monday evening in southwest Little Rock, the city's police chief said.

Police said that a 30-year-old man was taken to a hospital by ambulance and had serious injuries Monday night.

Officers were dispatched to 34 Harrow Drive at 7:06 p.m., Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said at the shooting scene Monday evening.

The caller told dispatch that he had killed someone and wanted to report a robbery, Buckner said.

At around 7:24 p.m., the man called back and said he was going to kill someone else and that he was armed with a 9mm handgun and a ".45," he said.

After officers arrived about 7:30 p.m., they asked for the channel to be held, which allows officers to have direct communication with dispatch without interruption, Buckner said.

At that point, shots were fired and there was a request for a supervisor and an ambulance, Buckner said. Police believe the victim was the same person who called 911, he said.

Two officers were at the scene, but neither were injured, Buckner said. The chief did not identify either officer.

The victim's injuries are believed to be serious, Buckner said, though he was not sure where the victim was shot or how many times he was shot. He said the shooting is believed to have happened outside.

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Little Rock police officers examine the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 34 Harrow Drive on Monday night.

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Part of Harrow Drive, in a residential neighborhood located south of West 65th Street, was blocked off with crime scene tape that crossed over the street.

An ambulance left the scene after the shooting and a person was seen lying down inside the ambulance. Officials from the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office arrived at the crime scene, as well as Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter.

When asked about the time lapse between the first call and the officers' arrival, Buckner said police are early in the investigation and he did not know where the officers were coming from.

"This is a tough job. They showed up and dealt with a situation. At some point, the situation went south," Buckner said at the scene. "And our investigation, we will look into that to see exactly what happened and make determinations at that point."

As of Monday night, Buckner said police did not know whether the caller had killed another person, because investigators were waiting to get a search warrant and had not searched the residence on Harrow Drive.

Lt. Steve McClanahan, spokesman for Little Rock police, said investigators were likely to get a search warrant for the residence later Monday night.

Buckner said he did not know how long the officers involved in the shooting had been with the department.

Police did not know if officers were shot at, Buckner said, and he was not sure whether investigators had found a gun.

JJ Spears, 20, lives off Harrow Drive and said he had just walked inside his house when he heard someone outside say "get on the ground."

"They were saying that multiple times," he said.

Spears said he then heard multiple shots outside.

"We pretty much took cover," he said.

After the shots, Spears said he again heard someone outside say "get on the ground."

When he looked outside, Spears said he saw a person lying on the ground.

This is the fifth shooting by a Little Rock officer this year.

Metro on 12/06/2016

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