Little Rock police identify man fatally shot during attempted robbery

Crime scene tape blocks off a yard Wednesday morning at 1314 W. 19th St. Police say one person was killed there late Tuesday night.
Crime scene tape blocks off a yard Wednesday morning at 1314 W. 19th St. Police say one person was killed there late Tuesday night.

One person was fatally shot in an attempted robbery Tuesday night about two blocks away from a killing reported in the same Little Rock neighborhood days earlier, police said.

Shortly before midnight, police went to the 1300 block of West 19th Street after getting a call about a robbery, department spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan said at the scene Wednesday morning. That address is between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and South Pulaski Street.

Police reportedly found a man who had been shot on a couch inside the home, McClanahan said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a news release later Wednesday, police identified the victim as Eric Gavin, 45, of Little Rock. His body was taken to the state Crime Lab for an autopsy.

1314 W. 19th St homicide scene

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Photos by Emma Pettit

The woman who lives at the home told police that she and the victim were inside when two men knocked on the door, demanded money and forced their way into the apartment, police said.

Authorities believe the woman was forced to the back of house by one of the intruders while the other man stayed with Gavin, who was sitting on the couch.

The witness said she heard a single gunshot, and the two robbers fled, police said. She told police she ran out of the house and called 911, McClanahan said.

The relationship between the resident and Gavin is not known at this time, McClanahan said.

[HOMICIDE MAP: Interactive map shows killings so far this year in Little Rock, North Little Rock]

Officials were shuttling in and out of the home by midmorning Wednesday. A white Town & Country van with a Texas license plate sat parked outside the duplex, which was situated next to an open lot.

The homicide is the 15th so far this year in Little Rock and comes after Charles Levingston Jr., 21, was fatally shot in the same area Sunday night. Levingston was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg on West 21st Street near South Pulaski Street. That location is less than a quarter-mile south of the Tuesday night homicide scene.

McClanahan said he did not know of any specific plans to increase patrol in the area, adding that the department captains are aware of the recent killings and are working to address them.

“If this area is a problem, yes, we will send resources," he said.

The killing is Little Rock's fifth since Friday.

“We are concerned. That’s too many, and we don’t want to see that number in our city,” McClanahan said.

At this time last year, the city was at seven homicides.

“We’re going in the wrong direction,” he said, adding that police encourage members of the community to come forward and share any information they have. They can do so anonymously, he added.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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