A handgun, a few locks of long, dark hair, and a pool of blood were found in the parking lot near where a man was fatally shot Saturday afternoon in Little Rock, police said.
A 911 caller told police at 4:49 p.m. that people were shooting around the Spanish Jon Apartments at 5001 W. 65th St.
Officers arrived a few minutes later and found no gunshot victims, police spokesman Lt. Michael Ford said.
But, less than 10 minutes later, CHI St. Vincent's Infirmary called the Police Department to report that a man had arrived at the hospital -- about 5 miles from the apartment complex -- with gunshot wounds and had died, Ford said.
Investigators believe the man was shot at the Spanish Jon Apartments. His death is the 14th slaying in the city this year.
At the crime scene late Saturday, investigators had set out more than 30 evidence markers, some beside numerous shell casings.
Bright yellow crime scene tape encompassed one side of the parking lot, two hallways, a grassy area and another building -- more than a third of the complex. In one hallway in the rear of the complex, a crime scene investigator placed 15 evidence markers near what appeared to be shell casings and bullet fragments.
Ford could not confirm late Saturday how many bullets were fired, but he said the number of shell casings indicated that at least two people had exchanged gunfire.
A black Buick with rust lines along its hood sat in the parking lot near the pool of blood, its driver-side door open wide. Behind it was another vehicle, a newer-model white Nissan hatchback with a woman inside. The woman, who Ford said was a possible witness in the case, sat within the police-taped area as officers milled around her. She placed her head in her hands when a few reporters drew near.
The apartment complex consists of connected two-story, cinder-block structures with painted wood planking. The hallways are open and narrow. A dozen or so onlookers and residents crowded into the tall, central hallway Saturday evening and watched the officers, speculating about what had happened.
Multiple onlookers said they heard 20 or more shots. Some said they called police; others said they dropped to the floor and hid.
After more than an hour of standing in the breezeway, officers asked the crowd of residents and journalists to move, saying there was evidence where they were standing, too.
Eric Wilson, a 30-year-old resident of the complex, said he ordered food from an eatery across the street Saturday afternoon and, sometime after 4:30 p.m., he walked to pick it up.
He said he was only gone for 10 minutes.
When he emerged from the restaurant, a woman warned him not to cross the street because there had been a shooting. Wilson said he called police and waited until they arrived before returning home.
Wilson said he didn't know who owned the black Buick or who might have been shot.
As he stood for nearly two hours holding the takeout container and watching the officers move about the scene, his food grew cold.
Metro on 03/24/2019