Two 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old were shot Thursday evening outside a Boys & Girls Club in south Little Rock, police said.
Gabriel Black and Jahkalyn King drove to the Dalton Whetstone Boys & Girls Club at 46 Harrow Drive around 6 p.m., according to a police report, and Black got out of the vehicle to see if the building’s door was unlocked.
A male the teen did not know appeared, said something Black told police he didn’t understand and pointed a black handgun at him. Black tried to get back in the vehicle, the report states, and the gunman fired.
Police said a bullet grazed Black’s wrist and struck King in the leg. A 19-year-old woman in the vehicle drove the pair to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where they were treated and released, according to the report.
Two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old were also outside the club at the time of the shooting.
They told police a gray Ford Crown Victoria pulled into the parking lot and someone inside began shooting, according to the report.
One 16-year-old was struck in the elbow, and he and the others ran down a trail behind the building that led to Lancaster Baptist Church.
A woman who received a call that her son had been shot picked up the 16-year-old victim, as well as the two who were with him. They were met by MEMS, who transported the victim to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
A detailed description of the shooter was not available in the report.
Cindy Doramus, chief executive officer of Boys and Girls Club of Central Arkansas, said the club was closed at the time of the incident and its doors continue to be shut because of covid-19.
She said as far as she knows, none of the kids who are part of the club were involved. Staff and volunteers were also not involved, Doramus said.
The club is located in an area where their services are needed, she said, and usually the club is a safe haven where people can go to escape violence.
“We teach nonviolence and other alternatives,” Doramus said. “It was disheartening to see that happen on our grounds.”