HENSLEY — A man is being held on a manslaughter charge after an attempted robbery Friday morning at a rural address south of Little Rock ended with a 29-year-old fatally shot, authorities said.
Pulaski County sheriff's deputies were sent to a home at the end of a private drive about 100 yards off of Oak Road in Hensley around 5 a.m. after getting a call about shots fired, Lt. Cody Burk said at the scene.
When authorities arrived, they found a man, later identified as Ryan Reed of Redfield, fatally hurt in a shed near the home. He had suffered at least one gunshot wound, Burk said.
Authorities say Reed and a person accompanying him, 27-year-old Derek Elder of Jefferson, were talking with an unidentified person at the house when a dispute started over property that Reed believed was his.
Reed brandished a firearm, at which point the unidentified person at the residence fired a shot that struck and killed Reed, the sheriff's office said.
Elder, who is being held on a charge of manslaughter, was reportedly involved in the robbery attempt, according to authorities. He was not armed.
An online inmate roster shows Elder remained at the Pulaski County jail as of around 3:30 p.m. in lieu of $10,000 bond.
Charges were not filed as of Friday afternoon against the person who shot Reed, Burk said.
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Photos by Emma Pettit
Photos by Emma Pettit
Based on preliminary information, the sheriff's office believes the shooting may have resulted from a dispute about a vehicle, according to the spokesman.
The home sits beyond a painted “No Trespassing” sign and does not have water or electricity, so whoever called 911 likely used a cellphone, Burk said. The residence, which is encased by trees and barely visible from the roadway, sits among a small shed, a bus and scraps of wood and metal, Burk said.
A neighbor said a son and a father have lived at the house for “quite some time.”