EL DORADO -- Two El Dorado men are in custody for capital murder and several other felony charges in the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy who was struck by a stray bullet that traveled nearly a quarter of a mile as the men fired at each other, El Dorado police said.
Shaquille O. Green, 20, and Patrick L. Rogers, 24, both of El Dorado, surrendered to the El Dorado Police Department on Thursday night and just before 1 p.m. Friday, respectively, said Capt. Kevin Holt, public information officer for the department.
The shooting occurred Thursday evening as the boy was in his grandmother's front yard at 722 Louisiana Ave. Police have not yet released the boy's name.
n addition to capital murder, Green and Rogers were arrested on charges of committing a terroristic act, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by certain persons, and engaging in violent criminal group activity, with penalty enhancements for committing such offenses in the presence of a child and for possessing firearms, as both men were felons.
They are being held on no-bond arrest warrants in the Union County Jail.
The event unfolded just as the neighborhood was preparing for a block party to celebrate the holiday weekend, Holt said. Many neighbors, including children, were out mowing and cleaning their yards and vacant lots to spruce up the area for festivities when multiple shots rang out more than a block east of the intersection of Cook Street and Louisiana Avenue.
The boy was in the fenced-in yard in front of his grandmother's house when he was struck by a single bullet.
He was expected to start the seventh grade in August.
"Right now, we're classifying the victim as the unintended target of a neighborhood dispute. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a tragedy," Holt said.
Holt said several shots were fired in and around the 1200 block of East Cook Street, and one of the bullets traveled west across Hawthorne Avenue to the 722 Louisiana Ave. residence and struck the boy.
NW News on 07/05/2015