The brother of a man killed by an off-duty Little Rock police detective Friday was convicted in the slaying of a Little Rock police officer over two decades ago, a Police Department spokesman said Tuesday.
Gregory Lamont Childress, 44, of Little Rock, was shot and killed by Little Rock detective Angela Everett on Friday night in what police said was an attempted robbery.
Police say Everett, who was in uniform and working off-duty at the time, returned fire at Childress after he exited a vehicle wearing a mask and fired a handgun at her, striking her unmarked police vehicle, according to a news release from the department.
The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Ashley Square shopping center at North Rodney Parham Road and Reservoir Road.
Childress' brother, Durrell Ray Childress, was convicted over 20 years ago in the killing of veteran Little Rock police officer Henry Callanen, said Lt. Steve McClanahan, a Police Department spokesman.
On May 15, 1993, Callanen, 62, was fatally shot during a robbery while working an off-duty job at a McDonald's on West Roosevelt Road, according to a news reports at the time.
Callanen, a 35-year police veteran, was carrying cash receipts to his vehicle after the McDonald's closed, according to the news reports.
A jury found Durrell Childress, who was 17 at the time of the crime, guilty of capital murder and aggravated robbery, according to online court records. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in April 1994.
In the shooting Friday, police say, Everett was walking to her car with bank bags after she left a state revenue office at 9108 N. Rodney Parham Road, police said in a statement.
A silver SUV "rapidly" approached her and parked slightly behind her car, police said.
Everett told authorities a passenger in the vehicle, later identified as Gregory Childress, got out carrying a handgun and wearing a mask, according to the statement.
Gregory Childress went toward the detective and fired the weapon, hitting the unmarked police vehicle, according to the report.
Everett fired back and fatally shot Childress, the release said. He died at the scene.
McClanahan said in an email that Everett has served more than 16 years with the Little Rock Police Department. She was not injured in the shooting.
Officers later found the vehicle they suspect to be involved in the attempted robbery abandoned about a mile away from the crime scene. The vehicle, a 2014 Chevrolet Tahoe, had been reported stolen to police earlier that day.
Police Chief Kenton Buckner said Friday that investigators were questioning two "individuals of interest," in the incident.
Officer Richard Hilgeman, a department spokesman, said nobody has been charged in the case.
There is an ongoing investigation into the shooting.
Multiple people called 911 after the fatal shooting to report that they heard shots, according to audio recordings of 911 calls released Tuesday.
One caller said she witnessed the shooting and reported that a man in black clothing had been shooting.
"And I saw him crouching near the car. A security guard had already walked out," she told a 911 operator.
Another caller reported the shooting and said a man was on the ground in the parking lot.
"I see a security officer standing by a man," the woman said.
A separate caller reported she heard at least eight or nine shots in a quick succession.
Metro on 03/01/2017