Harvel "Todd" Sieber was protecting a friend when he was fatally shot Tuesday by a woman who opened fire outside a detail shop in downtown Little Rock.
The unidentified woman had walked up to the detail shop on East Capitol Avenue midday Tuesday and asked to use the restroom before she pulled out a gun and began shooting, according to a police report.
Sieber, 47, exited his vehicle and tried to return fire but was hit in the abdomen, according to the report. He was taken by ambulance to the UAMS Medical Center but died from his injuries.
"He was trying to be a help to me," said Mitchell Hines, 75, Sieber's friend who was shot in the leg by the woman. If Sieber had not been there, Hines said Wednesday, the woman would have shot more people.
Investigators have not made an arrest in the shooting as of Wednesday evening and continue to look for the shooter, who is described as a black woman between 25 and 35 years old.
Hines said he has known Sieber for about 15 years, a North Little Rock resident who sold Peterbilt trucks for a living. Sieber was a client of the detail shop.
"If everybody was like Todd," Hines said, "we would not have to have locks on our doors."
Friends said Sieber was a hardworking, Christian man who loved hunting and spending time outdoors.
"He was everything -- a great husband and father," said Justin Calhoun, a close friend who described Sieber as a "salt-of-the-earth" man.
Sieber had taken hunting trips to South Dakota, Canada and across Arkansas, said Kenny Hill, a close friend of 37 years. Hill said Sieber had plans to go hunting this weekend, and they had talked about taking a trip to Argentina to go dove hunting.
Hill said Sieber's family was close to his heart.
"I can't think of anybody who's a better father than Todd," he said, saying that Sieber used to help get his young daughter ready for school in the morning and was known to take her out for ice cream after school was out for the day.
Sieber took his mother-in-law to see former Beatle Paul McCartney, Hill said.
"Now, how many guys you know do that?" he said.
Calhoun said he was always willing to drop everything to lend a hand to a friend in need.
Hines said the detail shop has been at 815 E. Capitol Ave. for a number of years. He said he hopes the shooter is found soon and brought to justice.
Metro on 11/17/2016