Locals describe ‘shocking’ weekend incident involving gunfire in downtown Little Rock, mayor looking to make curfew changes
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gunshots, screaming, and chaos are just a few words some people who live in downtown Little Rock use to describe Saturday night when shots were fired from a crowd of young people.
Little Rock police said calls came in from east Markham Street after 9 p.m. reporting that shots were fired. Police say when officers arrived, they met with multiple young people, and some tried to run away. Officers later arrested two 16-year-olds who they said had guns and tried to run away.
Teen brothers recount chaos from gunfire in downtown Little Rock
Cobye Rhodes lives in downtown Little Rock near where the gunshots happened. He said he saw the crowd escalate to violence.
“They started as a crowd, it kind of progressed to fighting, then it went from fighting to shots after a while,“ Cobye said. “To just be laying on the couch then at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., you’re hearing gunshots and screaming afterwards. It was not only shocking but it was overwhelming too.”
Little Rock Police report there was no one injured or killed because of the gunshots. However, Walter Crockan, the director of Arkansas Stop the Violence, said guns have no place in a young person’s hands
“It’s sad that this generation can’t go to the park or somewhere else without fear of being shot at,” he said.
Crockan said when he heard about the shooting, his thoughts turned to his 17-year-old son, who was near the area with friends.
“When he heard the first shot, he left,” Crockan said. “My first thought was I was glad he was alive.”
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He hopes parents can come together to make a change.
“We just have to wake up and start parenting our children,” he said.
Rhodes wants city leaders and police to crack down.
“If there is a curfew, we don’t see the extent of it being pushed so why even have one if you’re not going to enforce it,” Rhodes said.
On Monday, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced plans to make a citywide weekend curfew for youth under 18 years old for the remainder of the summer. The proposal comes after reports of illegal activity by groups of young people over the past two weekends. Under the plan, the curfew would be 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 31.
Currently, there is a 9 p.m. curfew already in place for entertainment districts and city parks, such as the River Market and Soma. Mayor Scott said LRPD will step up enforcement of the 9 p.m. curfew and issue citations to parents as warranted for the remainder of the summer.
The mayor states that the LRPD will step up enforcement of the 9 p.m. curfew and issue citations to parents as warranted for the remainder of the summer.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. calls for new weekend curfew hours
Scott also noted that Little Rock’s crime rate has dropped significantly over the past three years because of a holistic violence reduction strategy focused on prevention, intervention and treatment.
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