Little Rock police link at least 2 shootings; 4 injured in 4 incidents include mother, 12-year-old

A shooting victim is transported from the scene Tuesday morning as police investigate a shooting at 22nd and Main streets in downtown Little Rock. Between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, four shootings in Little Rock left four people injured, including a 12-year-old boy.
A shooting victim is transported from the scene Tuesday morning as police investigate a shooting at 22nd and Main streets in downtown Little Rock. Between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, four shootings in Little Rock left four people injured, including a 12-year-old boy.

A 12-year-old boy, a mother of young children and two other victims were injured by gunfire in four Little Rock shootings from Monday evening to Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Out of the four shootings, three occurred Monday night in the west-central part of the city, according to police reports.

Two of those Monday night shootings are connected and police are investigating whether the third shooting Monday night, which injured a 27-year-old mother, is also related, said officer Steve Moore, a Police Department spokesman.

Little Rock has had more homicides and nonfatal shootings so far in 2017 compared with the same period last year.

Violent crime overall is also up in Little Rock so far this year.

Preliminary police data show Little Rock has had a 16 percent increase in violent crime from the beginning of the year to April 17, compared with the same period last year.

Officers were called to the first shooting Monday at 6:07 p.m. at 3023 Boyd St., according to a report.

When they arrived, a 57-year-old woman told police that her house was shot at and that a 12-year-old boy had been hit in the right foot, according to a police report.

The child's stepfather took him to Baptist Medical Center-Little Rock, according to the report. The child was in stable condition, police said, but would require surgery because of the amount of blood lost.

As the officers entered the home, they found blood on the floor in the living room and a trail of blood from the living room to the bedroom area, according to the report.

Shooting on Barbara Circle

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Photos by Ryan Tarinelli

In the street north of the house, police found several spent rounds from at least two different caliber guns, according to the report. Police also found several gunshot holes in the house from two previous shootings.

Authorities described the vehicle involved in the shooting as a white, four-door sedan with at least three black men inside.

About an hour and 20 minutes later, officers were dispatched to the 3300 block of Tatum Street after the second shooting, according to the report.

Zowah Jackson, 19, told police he was driving his vehicle in the area of West 32nd and Ludwig streets when his car was hit by gunfire.

Jackson's cousin Derius Hayes, 20, of Little Rock was hit in the left shoulder during the shooting, police said. Emergency medical personnel assessed the wound, but Hayes reportedly refused any further medical treatment.

Police noted a hole in the headrest of the rear seat and the headrest of a front passenger seat, according to the report.

Jackson's vehicle had several gunshot holes and the rear window was shattered, police said in the report.

Across the street from the Tatum street address, authorities reported finding a camouflage bag with assorted unspent rounds.

Moore said investigators believe the shooting of Hayes and the 12-year-old boy are connected.

In the third shooting of the night, police were dispatched to 28 Barbara Circle at 8:54 p.m., according to the report.

Michael Rushing, 55, told police his daughter-in-law, Tiffany Rushing, 27, of Little Rock, was shot just after she loaded her three children into a white Jeep outside the residence. The children were between 2 and 9 years old, according to the report.

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Michael Rushing told police that people in two vehicles -- a black Dodge Challenger and a white Nissan Altima -- drove by the house and opened fire "at him and his family."

He also told police he saw the vehicles drive by slowly a few times before the shooting.

Tiffany Rushing was taken in a private vehicle to an area hospital, and she did not have life-threatening injuries, police said.

Michael Rushing later told police he returned fire during the incident in self-defense. Officers found several 9mm casings near the front porch of his house.

At the scene, glass from a car window glistened on the ground, steps away from yellow evidence markers that dotted the pavement. A car sat in the road as investigators processed the scene.

The three Monday night shootings occurred in Ward 6 in west-central Little Rock, according to police reports.

A recent city memo from City Manager Bruce Moore reported that the shooting death of a 2-year-old toddler in November intensified a long-running feud between two rival groups, causing the increase of violent crime in Ward 6.

In an interview Monday afternoon, Ward 6 City Director Doris Wright said the violence has become a crisis and the residents in her ward have the right to a decent standard of living.

"It's like we're under siege," Wright said of the violence.

The memo also reported that out of the 48 shootings reported from Jan. 1 to April 12 this year, a third involved a victim who was participating in a gang, a drug deal or other criminal activity.

Steve Moore, the police spokesman, said police are also investigating whether there is a connection between the pair of related shootings in west-central Little Rock on Monday and an incident on Montclair Road in which a house was hit with gunfire but nobody was hurt.

Officers were dispatched to 4500 Montclair Road late Monday, according to a report. Residents told police they were all inside when the shooting occurred but did not know of anyone who would shoot at their house, according to the report.

Police found 34 spent bullet casings just south of the intersection of Montclair Road and Washington Street, according to the report. Five bullets had traveled through the inside of the house, police said.

The house is two blocks away from West 16th and Peyton streets, where a 14-year-old girl was hit in a drive-by shooting Sunday night, police said.

The fourth shooting came Tuesday morning at 10:26 a.m., near Main and 22nd streets, authorities said.

Moore said 19-year-old Braylon Harris was shot in the foot. Emergency medical personnel took Harris to an area hospital, and he did not have life-threatening injuries, Moore said.

Metro on 04/26/2017

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