Shot fired near Henderson University’s Newberry dorm

A shot was fired yesterday afternoon at a Henderson student in the parking lot of Henderson State University’s Newberry dormitory from the western edge of Ouachita’s campus.

The shooting suspect was described by Al Harris, Arkadelphia chief of police, as a man from Memphis who is not a student at either of the universities. He was waiting for the intended victim in the Newberry parking lot. Two female passengers were in the car with the alleged shooter, one of whom was suspected to be the intended victim’s ex-girlfriend.

Click below to listen to Arkadelphia Chief of Police Al Harris provide information about today’s shooting in Arkadelphia.
[podcast]https://www.obusignal.com/podcasts/alharris.mp3[/podcast]

Harris said the suspected story behind the incident is that, “he [the victim] broke up with her a couple of weeks ago. During their relationship, she had given him sums of money. She had contacted him and told him that she wanted her money back. He said no. She said she intended to collect that money.”

Soon after the shot was fired, the Arkadelphia Police Department was contacted, and they responded. Nobody was hit or injured from the shot. A witness informed the police about what had been seen.

“The witness said that there were two cars involved that were leaving the area,” Harris said. “The second car was stopped on north 10th Street at about Friendship Drive. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. The people in the car had been in a group that the shot had been fired toward.”

The next hurdle was to find the suspect who had fired the shot at the group. At first the police were directed south on 10th Street instead of north, but the problem was quickly corrected.

The car was soon spotted in Caddo Valley and turned on to I-30 heading northeast. A Caddo Valley police officer pulled the car over at the 83 mile marker.

“Two of my officers arrived to back him up, and I think he was assisted by at least one unit of the Arkansas state police,” Harris said.

A handgun was confiscated from the male suspect. All three of the suspects were taken into custody.

“We’re looking at at least an aggravated assault on the ex-girlfriend, and the driver/shooter to be charged,” Harris said. “The third person, I don’t know at this point.”

No Ouachita students, faculty or staff were involved in this incident, and Ouachita President Rex Horne sent out an e-mail to alert students of the situation. The Emergency Notification System was not used for this particular event.

“No alert was issued because the individuals involved were already apprehended when Ouachita was informed of the shooting,” said Trennis Henderson, vice president of communications.

“Ouachita Campus Security is going to have an increased presence around campus for the next few days,” Henderson said.

Click here to read the news release from the OBU public relations office.

Click here to read the story from Arkansas Baptist Press.