A witness to a deadly shooting in Greenland on Thursday night described Friday what happened at the Elmwood Apartments.
Garry Lamproe, 64, said he shared an apartment, across from the Fayetteville Executive Airport, with his two sisters, Betty DeSalvo, 53, and Denise Fulfer, 55.
DeSalvo agreed several weeks ago to let her daughter, Hope Patterson, 34, and son-in-law, Mandrake P. Patterson, 27, stay with them, Lamproe said.
“She (DeSalvo) was very lovable and would do anything for her family,” Lamproe said.
He said the Pattersons regularly fought and abused drugs and alcohol.
“They’ve been in arguments pretty much ever since they’ve been here,” Lamproe said.
After a fight Thursday, Lamproe and his sisters heard what sounded like a gunshot from the apartment’s front bedroom.
He said DeSalvo and Fulfer pounded on the bedroom door.
The door swung open and Mandrake Patterson shot DeSalvo in the head and Fulfer in the shoulder as she tried to get away from the doorway, Lamproe said.
Lamproe ran out of the apartment and called for help.
Greenland police officers arrived at 8:46 p.m.
DeSalvo was pronounced dead at the scene. Her daughter, an Army veteran and mother of three, died at Washington Regional Medical Center. Fulfer was listed in good condition Friday evening at the hospital.
Greenland police arrested Mandrake Patterson outside the residence. He faces felony charges in connection with two counts of capital murder and one count of attempted capital murder. He is in the Washington County jail without bond.
According to an arrest report, a shotgun was found outside the apartment.
Police Chief Gary Ricker said he didn’t know what led to Thursday’s shooting, other than an argument between Hope and Mandrake Patterson.
“As far as what it was about, we don’t know because she can’t tell us and he won’t,” Ricker said.
He said he didn’t recognize anyone involved in the shooting as longtime Greenland residents.
“An incident like this is a big deal,” he said. “People will be talking about it for a long time. Our big-time crime around here is when someone leaves their car unlocked and their change gets jacked. I don’t even think we get any busted windows around here.”
Ricker said Friday’s shooting was an isolated incident, which could have happened anywhere.
“People can get along fine for years and then someone snaps and that’s all it takes,” he said. “It’s not something we could have eliminated by extra patrol on the streets.”
Jason Rose, co-owner of the Elmwood Apartments, said Betty DeSalvo moved into the complex during the fall of 2012.
Washington County court documents indicate DeSalvo was disabled and her brother said she used a wheelchair.
“We responded there on a domestic involving a different member of the same family about a month ago,” Ricker said. “At that time, Betty was living here, but I don’t believe her daughter and husband had moved in yet.” Lamproe said DeSalvo’s son, Johnny Lamproe, also stayed in the apartment periodically, but was not there Thursday.
Garry Lamproe was sentenced in 2004 to six years probation for failure to register as a sex offender in Washington County. Johnny Lamproe was arrested for drug possession in 2005.
Ricker said he didn’t know where the Pattersons lived before they moved to Greenland. Family members said they were unemployed.
The Pattersons have been married since at least 2009, according to Hope Patterson’s Facebook page. There’s no record of their marriage in Washington County.
Mandrake Patterson obtained an Arkansas driver’s license on Feb. 23, 2010, according to the Arkansas Department of Finance.
At one point, Mandrake Patterson resided at 503 Valentine St. in Anderson, S.C., according to online records.
Friday’s arrest report listed assault as Mandrake Patterson’s only prior criminal charge. Washington County court records didn’t list any criminal convictions for the man.
Hope Patterson was married twice before to the same man, the late Robert Franklin Daniel of West Fork.
The couple, who lived in Washington County, married in 2003 and divorced in 2005. They remarried in 2007 and divorced in 2008.
They had two sons, ages 6 and 8, and a daughter, 11, according to court documents.
Daniel was convicted April 2005 for failure to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to six years probation.
Daniel was awarded custody of all three children in 2008 while Hope Patterson was on active duty in the Army.
He died at age 50 in 2012, according to an online obituary posted by Benton County Memorial Park Funeral Home.
Debbie Murray was custodian of the three children in July 2012, according to court documents. Family members said Friday the children were living with their grandparents in rural Washington County.
According to military records, Hope Patterson served in the Arkansas Army National Guard as an automated logistical specialist from October 1996 to November 1997, and again as a field artillery supervisor from January 2002 to July 2003. She served on active duty at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Tacoma, Wash., as a human sources specialist from April 2007 to February 2010. There are no records of deployment to combat zones.
Hope Patterson was released from active duty in 2010, according to court records.
Ricker said the last homicide he can remember in Greenland, a city with a population of just more than 1,200, happened near a truck stop about a decade ago.
Terry Vol Parker pleaded guilty in 2005 to second-degree murder in the shooting death of his methamphetamine manufacturing partner, 47-year-old Kevin Benish on July 29, 2004. He was sentenced to 35 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Parker and Benish had been traveling together in a vehicle when the shooting occurred. He was arrested near the Tobo’s Phillip’s 66 station at Interstate 540 and Wilson Street.
Ricker declined to release any additional information pending an investigation by the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is also assisting in the investigation, according to Kelly Cantrell, the department’s spokeswoman.
Ricker said the Elmwood Apartments, 1037 N. Main Ave., used to be a commercial building and converted to apartments.
“People don’t usually stay there for very long,” he said. “It’s the kind of place where you move in and stay a little while and move out.”
Ron Wood and Tony Hernandez contributed to this report.