FAYETTEVILLE -- The death of a 51-year-old man Thursday is being investigated as a homicide by University of Arkansas, Fayetteville police after he was found shortly after midnight on undeveloped land owned by the university, Capt. Gary Crain said.
The man was taken from the south Fayetteville site to Washington Regional Medical Center where he was declared dead, Crain said.
The area contains several homeless encampments, but Crain said police are unsure if the man was homeless. His identity is being withheld pending notification of family.
Police spent the day Thursday examining the scene and asking to interview people with any knowledge about what took place, Crain said.
"We don't have any suspects, and nobody has come forward as a witness," Crain said, asking anyone with information to contact police.
City police first received a report of a disturbance in the area, alerting campus officers at 12:16 a.m. Thursday, Crain said.
UA police arrived to find no disturbance, then discovered the man while searching an area away from campsites, Crain said. The man was found south of West 19th Street and east of South School Avenue, Crain said, a location more than a mile from the main UA campus.
"I do not believe he was able to speak at all," Crain said.
He said the man had no affiliation with the university.
Crain declined to comment on the nature of the man's injuries. He said the state Crime Laboratory will determine the man's cause of death.
"There's information that is not being released that would lead us to investigate this case as a homicide," Crain said.
Last month, UA police officials described safety concerns expressed by people living in the homeless encampments.
"They say they don't feel safe sleeping at night," Lt. Ben Velasco said April 9 at a conference for campus police held in Rogers.
Steve Gahagans, director for the university police, said at the conference last month that a goal was to have UA police regularly patrol the property, adding that he wanted more input from community service providers. Gahagans also said university police lack staffing, with about 37 officers, or fewer than 1.5 officers per 1,000 students, and that said sending more officers to patrol the encampments would mean fewer officers at the main campus.
Last month, UA spokesman Steve Voorhies said the university is attempting the sell the undeveloped land, which was purchased as a possible add-on to the nearby Arkansas Research and Technology Park. The university bought a 31-acre lot in 2003 for $370,000 and a 25-acre lot for $250,000 in 2012, Voorhies has said.
The area is located near 7 Hills Homeless Center's day center, which provides showers, food and other services. A "snapshot" count done in January found 406 people experiencing homelessness in Washington and Benton counties, including 119 people living outside of any home or emergency shelter.
NW News on 05/04/2018