Arkansas Online

Gunshot wounds LR worker on job

Mayor decries ‘senseless’ violence

GRANT LANCASTER

A Little Rock city worker was in stable condition Friday night after he was seriously wounded by gunfire while on the job that morning, authorities said.

The man, who was not publicly identified Friday, was in a pickup with another city worker near the intersection of Charles Bussey Avenue and Elm Street when the shooting occurred, according to a statement from Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

Scott said the vehicle and one of the employees were struck by gunfire.

The injured worker was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. His condition had stabilized Friday night, police spokesman Mark Edwards said.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, Edwards said. He was not able to give more details, and he said no suspect had been identified.

Police said the victim, who worked in the city’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs, was shot shortly before 10:18 a.m., when officers arrived on the scene

after a report of a shooting.

The man was working as part of the department’s special projects street team when he was shot, said Lisa King, administrative assistant to Housing and Neighborhood Programs Department Director Kevin Howard. Howard was out of the office Friday.

That team typically works to maintain infrastructure such as ditches and also mows or weeds vacant lots, King said.

“It’s impossible for me to adequately express my frustration and anger at this senseless gun violence in which a city employee was seriously hurt,” Scott said in the statement.

He said the worker “was doing nothing more than his job this morning when he became a victim of a gun crime.”

The mayor called on the city’s residents to come together and seek “new and better” solutions to gun crime in the city.

“There are too many guns on our streets and too many people who incorrectly think violence is the way to solve a problem,” Scott said. “We must unite to find new and better solutions to address this scourge of gun crime impacting our city.”

He said he was “praying for a swift and full recovery” for the employee.

“I know LRPD is doing everything possible to identify those responsible for this crime,” Scott said.

Arkansas

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2022-11-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281865827482641

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