Prayer leaders called for a communitywide effort to curb violence in Little Rock during a vigil Saturday night after an early morning shooting inside a downtown nightclub left 28 people injured.
"I'm curious as to, before you leave here, that you will make yourself known to somebody you don't know and connect with that individual," said Robert Holt, executive director of the nonprofit Let Our Violence End. "Because right now we are all connected in this time of prayer, but will we continue to connect from this point forward?"
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Photos by Gavin Lesnick
Photos by Gavin Lesnick
About 100 people attended the candlelight vigil 18 hours after gunfire broke out inside Power Ultra Lounge, where 25 people listening to a rap concert suffered gunshot wounds and three more were hurt during the rush to escape, according to police.
Two victims were considered to be in critical condition after the shooting, but Mayor Mark Stodola said officials expected that all would survive.
"God, we come and we give you thanks that no lives were lost last night. We know that chaos came quickly, but God, your grace was sufficient," the Rev. Carissa Rodgers said. "But God, we also lament all of the lives that were lost recently in our community by guns and by drive-bys and by other forms of violence happening amongst us."
Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said the shooting followed a dispute between "rival groups," which came as the department has reported an increase in violent crime dating to late 2016. Police did not make an arrest or identify suspects Saturday.
Religious leaders spoke for about 30 minutes Saturday night. By the time they were finished, the small white candles held by those who gathered had burned to nubs and dripped wax on the floor. Shirts in the audience read "Moms Demand Action," "Volunteer" and "Vietnam Veteran."
Evening rainfall forced organizers to move the vigil to a building across from Second Baptist Church Downtown on Eighth Street, rather than the originally planned location on the steps of City Hall.
David Freeman, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in downtown Little Rock, recalled his Central High School graduating class of 25 years ago. Gun violence killed three of his classmates, he said.
"This is nothing new," Freeman said. "Unless our prayers tonight are a call to action, unless you and I -- you and I -- do something, we'll let another 25 years go by and we'll gather here again. Let us pray."
Metro on 07/02/2017