The Little Rock Police Department is investigating two homicides after another violent weekend that saw at least three others injured from a shooting in the city's River Market District.
As of Sunday, 15 people have died from homicides so far in 2022. The quickly rising homicide toll has spurred public concern -- including a rally held at the capital Sunday by former NFL player Reggie Swinton.
Friday night police responded to a call of shots fired at Pizza D'Action -- a longtime restaurant and bar at the corner of Markham and Kavanaugh in Stifft Station.
Upon arrival police found Charles "Charlie" Willis, 53, of Little Rock, dead from a gunshot wound, a police report states. Staff at the restaurant previously said Willis was a longtime customer who worked as a doorman for the business.
Posts from the pizza place's Facebook account were shared in the hundreds since the shooting with many people expressing their memories of the doorman. Others commented on the senselessness of the act.
Willis was described by a patron, on Saturday, as someone who was always kind and used deescalation tactics first when dealing with rowdy customers.
Police spokesman Mark Edwards said there was no update on suspects as of Sunday evening.
The police report offered no details about specifics of the shooting.
In a separate incident, three people were shot in the River Market District about 1:42 p.m. Sunday, a police report states.
Edwards said all the victims were in stable condition as of Sunday evening.
Officers stationed in a nearby area responded to about 215 East Markham after hearing shots, a report states.
Witnesses told police they saw a Gray Dodge Durango involved in the shooting, the report states. It states officers made a traffic stop shortly after at Second and Cumberland streets and a man was apprehended but as of Sunday it didn't appear anyone was charged.
Shortly after the apprehension, police were alerted of three gunshot victims at UAMS.
Kaylan Pace, 33; Nick Wallace, 21; and Ronald Peyton, 35, were named as victims in the report.
Officers found shell casings on the second level of a garage deck at 215 East Markham. Blood was found through the garage deck, the report says.
The report notes that the nearby The Corner Diner at 201 East Markham was struck by gunfire on the east side of the building.
Little Rock Police responded to their second homicide at 5700 block of Patterson Road Sunday morning. As of Sunday evening little information was released by police including the identity of the victim or any suspect information.