Dermott Student Dead After UCA Shooting
Danielle Kloap
Editor-in-Chief
A shooting at the University of Central Arkansas campus last night resulted in the death of two students and the injury of one non-student.
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| Courtesy of UCA Facebook Support Group |
| In Remembrance - In support of UCA, some Facebook users have made this graphic their profile picture. Click here to join the UCA Facebook Support Group. |
UCA released the names of the victims this morning in a press conference - Chavares Block, a 19-year-old from Dermott, and Ryan Henderson, an 18-year-old from Little Rock. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the other victim died at Conway Regional Medical Center. Martrevis Norman of Blytheville, who is not a UCA student, received treatment and the hospital released him.
Theressa Lee, a senior English major at the University of Arkansas at Monticello from Dermott, said she knows Block's family.
"(Dermott) is a small town, so you know everybody," Lee said. "I'm praying for them."
Rebecca Ozment, a junior early childhood education major at UAM who previously attended UCA, said she relied on Facebook for news about her friends after the shooting. Ozment heard about the shooting from the evening news. After the news stations gave little details about the incident, she went to Facebook to read her friends' profile statuses. She said she text-messaged her friends to make sure they were OK.
"My heart was racing when I heard the news," Ozment said. "I just kept thinking 'If I was still going (to UCA), that could have been me."
The UCA Student Government Association hosted a candlelight vigil tonight at the Harding Centennial Fountain on the UCA campus. Ozment said she wanted to attend the vigil, but could not due to her class schedule.
"I wish I was still there so I could be with my friends," Ozment said. "My prayers and thoughts are with everyone."
Other UAM students are showing their support for UCA through a Facebook support group. With over 4,751 members, the group has members from other universities around the state, including Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas Tech University, Arkansas State University and University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
The UCA Police Department received a call at 9:19 p.m. reporting shots fired. A police officer heard the shots as they received the call and responded. The incident occurred outdoors between Arkansas Hall and the Snow Fine Arts Center.
The lead investigator for the case, UCAPD Lt. Preston Grumbles, confirmed four suspects are believed to have been involved in the shooting, and two are now in custody. He said no UCA students are suspects. Grumbles said the incident does not appear to be random. He expressed confidence that the location of the other two suspects has been identified.
Grumbles said numerous shots were fired during the incident, but investigators are not prepared to reveal the type of weapon used.
For more official information about the UCA shooting, please visit the UCA Web site.
UCA Media Services contributed to this article.
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