At the end of a year in which Little Rock had its highest number of homicides in more than a decade and police have taken lengths to get illegal guns off the street, residents have been unnerved by stray bullets striking their homes and vehicles, putting them and their children at risk, even if they were not the intended targets.
Some people said they planned to move to different neighborhoods or even leave the city, while others feared the possibility of retaliation and did not want to be named in this article.
Eryn Surratt was leaving her house on Eaton Drive on Nov. 21 with her two young kids when she saw headlights coming down the street and heard loud bangs and pops from two cars that seemed to be in a chase, she said.
"This time of year, I knew that wasn't fireworks," Surratt said.
Surratt was steps away from her car and yelled for her two kids, who are 5 and 7, to get back in the house. They were able to get to safety, but her car was hit by a bullet, near where her kids would have been sitting in the back seat, she said.
"It's a big bullet hole in the trunk of my car," Surratt said.
The police came quickly, but there wasn't much they could do, and Surratt never heard back from them or got a police report to prove to her insurance provider that the damage wasn't her fault, she said.
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She's lived in that neighborhood around six months and said that in that time, there had already been a person involved in a shootout with Arkansas State Police troopers. The area was cordoned off and she wasn't able to get to her house, where her son was alone.
"I don't feel safe at all, especially not with my kids," Surratt said. "That's just how it's been for a long time -- not safe."
Surratt said the damage to her car embarrassed her, but that she was afraid to file an insurance claim because of the neighborhood she lives in -- she thinks her premium will go up.
"I'm just riding around town with bullet holes in my car," Surratt said.
That same incident caused damage to other vehicles in the neighborhood. Linette Gonzalez said that two cars outside her father's house on Eaton Drive were damaged, their windshields struck by bullets or fragments.
Gonzalez didn't see much, but also reported hearing noise like fireworks and seeing two cars speed past.
Gonzalez couldn't recall another shooting in the neighborhood in her two years living there, but said she thinks that "the world's getting more dangerous now, a lot of crimes are happening."
She isn't sure what the police can do about these reckless acts of violence, but would like to see something done about people having guns illegally, she said.
About a week before, on Nov. 15, bullets hit Jose Ortiz's front door while he was in the living room watching TV with his kids, he said.
The shots damaged the glass on the door and upset his kids. Ortiz went outside and saw people some distance away from his house, but couldn't identify them.
"People's crazy," said Ortiz, who has lived in the neighborhood about eight years but now is thinking of moving out of Little Rock for his and his family's safety.
"It was not like that years ago," Ortiz said. "I don't feel safe no more."
DIFFICULT TO INVESTIGATE
Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sgt. Eric Barnes said it's hard to say how often these types of unintended bullet strikes happen, but that it happens "periodically."
Police investigate, but it is very often hard to identify a suspect -- or know if a person they arrested for another crime was involved -- unless they have cooperation from neighbors, Barnes said.
Sometimes, police suspect that the person reporting does know who may have targeted them but does not want to say for fear of retaliation or scrutiny from police, Barnes said.
Suspicion from community members is "a hard topic to really tackle," Barnes said, but thinks that things like police reports that allow the reporter to remain anonymous are important in building that trust.
"Without those anonymous calls, there's so much stuff we would miss," Barnes said.
Gun crimes like these are one of the reasons why the department, at Chief Keith Humphrey's request, has begun to publish the numbers of illegal guns seized and people arrested on firearms charges every week, Barnes said.
In an effort to curb gun crime, police seized 734 illegally owned firearms and arrested 501 people with illegally owned weapons as of Dec. 21. 2021.
"Not only are we trying to build trust, we also want to fight back on crime," Barnes said.
DANGER STILL PERSISTENT
But even after a year of police focusing on getting guns out of criminals' grasp, citizens still face the effects of these stray bullets.
Shortly before Christmas, on Dec. 20, a bullet struck Lena Matheny's house on 25th Street while she was home with her three young kids. She saw the dust kicked up as the bullet passed through the drywall.
"It really was alarming and heartbreaking to watch a bullet come in my house," Matheny said.
The sight of the hole in the side of her home brought Matheny to tears, making her feel powerless, and the sound of people shooting off New Year's fireworks leaves her on edge, she said.
"Obviously they weren't shooting at me, but [I] didn't know if they would keep shooting," Matheny said.
A native of Mountain Home, Matheny has lived in Little Rock since 2003 and has seen the violence in the city get progressively worse, she said.
Matheny's considering moving when she can afford it, but is concerned that this violence could happen in any neighborhood in the city, even those considered safer.
She thinks that economic inequality fuels the crime problem, with people who are unable to provide for themselves turning to crime and creating a problem bigger than what the city's government and police could hope to tackle, she said.
"We can't do much about it if we don't give people options and help," Matheny said.
Benny Johnson, a reverend and activist who works with Arkansas Stop the Violence, agreed that the violence in the city is growing worse. He compared it to the 1990s, when he worked as security at Little Rock Central High School.
"It is out of control, and we need to have a sense of urgency about it," Johnson said.
Johnson sees three major aspects that contribute to the problem: first, economic inequality that makes people feel like they have to be criminals to make a living; second, a lack of manpower in the Little Rock Police Department to address the violence; and third, the reluctance of average citizens, out of suspicion or fear, to cooperate with police.
Opportunities like trade schools would help people make good livings without turning to crime, Johnson said.
Economic woes can also hurt teens, who can become involved with crime because of poor family support systems, said Chris Kerrigan, a pastor who also works with Stop the Violence.
In a news conference Thursday, Humphrey said many of the suspects and victims in 2021's gun crimes have been between 14 and 23.
Even parents who want to be involved in their kids' lives often can't find the time in a busy working schedule, because if they do "they can't pay their light bill, they can't pay their rent," Kerrigan said.
To address the second problem, the lack of manpower, Johnson would like to see the city's police form a closer partnership with the Pulaski County sheriff's office to fill the gaps.
In October, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott acknowledged the need for at least 100 new officers to get the city's department up to strength.
With the force short-staffed, Kerrigan thinks that many criminals are almost guaranteed to get away, because police can't patrol all the hot spots in the city. He thinks even the presence of officers will help curb crime.
Thursday, Humphrey was optimistic about the department's recruiting efforts, touting a higher $10,000 signing bonus and the large recruit class set to start training in February.
LACK OF CITIZEN COOPERATION
When it comes to citizen cooperation, Johnson criticized the tendency of some people to dismiss talking to police as snitching.
The idea of a "no-snitching policy" is "a bunch of foolishness," Johnson said, calling on neighbors to look out for one another and help police catch the criminals doing harm in their neighborhoods.
Kerrigan acknowledged that people are fearful of retaliation if police come to their house to take down a report, marking them as a possible snitch, even if they're just trying to do the right thing.
Kerrigan hopes the Police Department's efforts to promote anonymous reports will lead to more people cooperating with authorities, he said.
Humphrey on Thursday praised his officers for making progress in reaching out to community members and easing tension and suspicion of the force.
Because of their efforts at community policing and reports that protect peoples' identity, "people are starting to trust us," Humphrey said.
However, Johnson thinks that the violence will only be solved when neighborhoods and community centers like churches get involved in helping others and bettering living conditions, he said.
"You can't police yourself out of this, you can't do it," Johnson said.