A man who was found fatally shot Wednesday in northeast Arkansas was involved in a yearlong exchange of violence between a group of suspects, Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson said.
Officers said they responded to the area of 1st Street around 6 p.m. after hearing gunfire, Thompson said in a news release.
Upon arrival, police learned 22-year-old Keodrae Jones had been shot and was inside a residence in the 100 block of East Cherry Street, Thompson said. Jones was transported to a local hospital where he later died, the chief said.
“Jones' family members believe that Keodrae was targeted and they implicated subjects in this shooting that are also suspected of being involved in a series of violent confrontations involving Jones and or his associates since late 2017,” Thompson said. “During this time officers of the Blytheville Police Department have reached out to other family members of the victims and suspects to help progress the investigations and stop what is suspected to be retaliatory violence.”
The incident is the fourth homicide in Blytheville in the last three weeks.
“While that is alarming and concerning to the Blytheville Police Department and citizens of Blytheville, three of the previous cases have resulted in arrests and none of these homicides are connected to each other,” Thompson said.