Man shot at Little Rock carnival; teen suspect sought

The Little Rock Police Department investigates a shooting Saturday, April 10, 2021 at the Outlets of Little Rock Carnival in the shopping mall's parking lot. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
The Little Rock Police Department investigates a shooting Saturday, April 10, 2021 at the Outlets of Little Rock Carnival in the shopping mall's parking lot. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

A shooting at a carnival in southwest Little Rock left a man clinging to life in a hospital and police scouring a neighborhood for a teenage suspect Saturday night.

Little Rock police were called at 5:45 p.m. to the Outlets of Little Rock at 1 Bass Pro Drive, where they found a man suffering from a bullet wound and quickly transported to him to a hospital, according to police spokesman Sgt. Eric Barnes.

Barnes said the man, initially reported as having died, was alive late Saturday but was in "very critical" condition.

At the scene, officers detained Keaton McGee, 16, and took him to the 12th Street substation for questioning, Barnes said. While there, McGee requested medical attention and was about to be transported to a hospital, when he fled south, Barnes said.

"We believe this person is very dangerous," Barnes said.

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McGee previously was arrested, along with four others, in the Feb. 28 shooting of a 17-year-old girl at 14000 Otter Creek, according to another police spokesman, Mark Edwards. McGee was released on bail in that incident, Edwards said.

Saturday night, police used a K-9 officer and a North Little Rock Police Department drone to search for McGee and hoped to have him in custody by this morning.

McGee has a tattoo under his right eye, sports "a very small afro" and was last seen wearing a muscle shirt, Barnes said.

"This is someone we want off the street," he said.

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Police Chief Keith Humphrey, who attended an 8:30 p.m. news conference on Saturday's gunfire, said he was upset about the shooting, particularly because it occurred in the presence of young children enjoying time with their families at a carnival.

"We have citizens out having a good time, and someone who does not value someone's life or doesn't value the fact that this is going to be etched in the mind of children and others," the chief said.

"This is going to stop," Humphrey said. "There is no place for this in our city. There is no need for this type of behavior in the city of Little Rock. We, as a police department, cannot do this alone, and we are going to look at other ways to ensure that this doesn't become a regular thing here in this city."

The carnival had been scheduled to end April 4, but its stay was extended two weeks.

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