Police say man killed 2 kids, himself in west Little Rock home

FILE – Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner speaks with reporters about a double homicide Sunday in west Little Rock in August 2017.
FILE – Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner speaks with reporters about a double homicide Sunday in west Little Rock in August 2017.

Police were investigating Sunday after a man killed two young children in west Little Rock before taking his own life, according to authorities.

Officers were called around 11:20 a.m. to 11305 Birchwood Drive, where the mother of the two children, ages 4 and 5, found them dead in the home, said Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner.

A man also was found dead in the home, Buckner said, in what appeared to be a "murder-suicide." Buckner said he did not know if the man was the biological father of the children, but there appeared to be a "father-child" relationship.

Police did not release the names of the man or the children.

[HOMICIDE MAP: Interactive map of killings in Little Rock, North Little Rock this year]

"When you have kids, who are incapable of protecting themselves, be the victim of something this heinous, it's very, very frustrating," Buckner said, speaking near the home on Birchwood Drive.

Buckner said the motive for the slayings is unclear but noted that officers had responded to the residence in the past for domestic-related calls.

Police did not know the cause of death midday Sunday, Buckner said, and authorities were not sure what events led up to the incident.

The deaths of the two children are the 44th and 45th homicides this year in Little Rock, a spike in killings compared with the 42 homicides that occurred all of last year. If the pace of killings continues, Little Rock will see its highest number of homicides in more than two decades, according to police data. The record number of killings came in 1993 with 76 homicides.

The double homicide also comes as the city struggles to curb violent crime, an issue that received statewide and national attention in the wake of a mass shooting at a downtown nightclub. The incident left 25 people wounded by gunfire and three others injured.

In an effort to curb a surge of violent crime, the Little Rock Police Department announced last week that officers would be required to work overtime in certain areas of the city. The department said 45 officers per day -- 15 each from the department's downtown, northwest and southwest patrol divisions -- will work additional hours on mandatory patrols in high-crime areas. The effort began Friday.

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Yet, Buckner said the deaths of the two children are a "painful illustration" that even more police officers on the street cannot prevent every violent crime.

"This is very, very tough. Not only for our agency, but for our community," he said, mentioning that many of the neighbors likely knew the children.

One of those neighbors was Diana Thomas. Sitting in her kitchen, her eyes widened and shock washed over her face as she heard that police had reported the man had killed the two children.

"Oh my gosh," she said, her eyes drifting downward. "I just can't believe it."

Thomas said the children always seemed happy and she recalled how the kids used to sit on the rocks outside her home.

Outside the crime scene tape on Birchwood Drive, people in vehicles stopped to ask what had happened and neighbors gathered in small groups.

"We as a neighborhood are heartbroken," said Jo Keith, a vice president of the neighborhood association and a Little Rock police chaplain.

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Information for this article was contributed by Scott Carroll of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 08/21/2017

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