Rapper’s bodyguard faces 10 counts for shell casings found at Little Rock club

Police have matched shell casings found after a mass shooting at a Little Rock nightclub last month to a gun Memphis rapper Ricky Hampton's bodyguard was carrying, the department reported Friday.

Kentrell Gwynn, 25, faces 10 counts of aggravated assault, one for each shot he's accused of firing at Power Ultra Lounge in the early morning hours of July 1. Police spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan said investigators believe Gwynn was one of several people who opened fire during a dispute between rival gangs at the now-shuttered club.

Twenty-five people at the club were injured by gunfire. Three others were injured as panicked clubgoers fled the business at 220 W. Sixth St.

The shooting made international headlines and led state, local and federal authorities to form an investigative force aimed at addressing broader violent crime issues in the city.

Gwynn is the first person charged in the shooting.

"This is a deal where we had to wait on forensics and that's what we did," McClanahan said. "We waited and we subsequently matched 10 rounds from inside the club to the weapon he had."

Aggravated assault, as partly defined under Arkansas law, occurs when someone "engages in conduct that creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury," and does so "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life."

Gwynn and Hampton, who was performing at the club when the shooting occurred, were arrested July 2 in Birmingham, Ala., on charges unrelated to the Little Rock shooting. Authorities reportedly found a .40-caliber Glock pistol in the car Gwynn was driving at the time of their arrests.

Gwynn also had a loaded .40-caliber Springfield XD pistol strapped to his thigh, according to a federal affidavit.

Authorities reported July 18 that .40-caliber Sig Sauer shell casings had been found at Power Ultra Lounge after the shooting, and that at least one round found at the club had been "preliminarily matched" to the Springfield XD pistol Gwynn was carrying.

Gwynn of Memphis was being held at the Pulaski County jail Friday when he was served with warrants on the aggravated assault charges.

An affidavit filed in connection with the charges was sealed.

Little Rock police did not release further details.

Gwynn was indicted earlier this month on federal gun charges. He's accused of providing Hampton with a machine-gun-style pistol, even though he knew Hampton was a convicted felon who could not legally possess a gun.

Hampton, who goes by the stage name Finese2Tymes, was indicted on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also faces state charges in a shooting outside a Forrest City nightclub in June. Hampton, 25, is accused of shooting out a car window and injuring a woman inside the vehicle.

Both have pleaded innocent to the federal charges. They're scheduled to go to trial Sept. 18 in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.

McClanahan said an investigation of the nightclub shooting is ongoing.

"We're still looking for additional shooters," he said.

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Information for this article was contributed by Linda Satter of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 08/19/2017

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