FAYETTEVILLE -- Police are investigating the Monday night killing of a man at Walker Park in south Fayetteville, spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said Tuesday.
Police hadn't released the man's name by Tuesday evening and were waiting until the man's next of kin have been notified, Stout said. The man is in his 50s, Stout said.
Police didn't release information about how the man died. Stout described the man's death as violent and said police knew the man was dead when they found him.
Blood was found at the horseshoe pit at the park, where the body was found, officials said. The blood was washed away by firefighters round 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Dale Riggins, administrative assistant for the Fayetteville Fire Department.
Firefighter reports didn't say how much blood was on the ground at the park, Riggins said. No one tried to resuscitate the man because, apparently, the man suffered trauma that made it obvious he was dead, he said.
The man died not long before the policeman discovered his body, Stout said.
Central EMS pronounced the man dead, Stout said. Ambulance service Chief Becky Stewart said in email she had no additional information about the death.
A police dispatch log at 11:15 p.m. shows an officer was doing a check at the park when the body was found.
The dispatch report had no other information.
Police have a suspect in custody and were interviewing him Tuesday morning, Stout said. That person's name hadn't yet been released Tuesday evening.
The body will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy but results could take weeks, Stout said.
Police have released little information, but the park where the killing occurred is known as a hangout spot for homeless people, said neighbor Jimmy Jordon.
Jordon's home is across the street from the park. He said he sometimes sits up at night and watches homeless people walk around the park, start fires and drink alcohol.
"They have nothing to do and no where to go," Jordon said. "It's a problem."
Jordon said he has called police about five times this year because of intoxicated people at the park near children. Some of the homeless people have become violent in the past, he said.
NW News on 09/02/2015