Four wounded in Earle shootings
Sheriff’s Office investigating after violent weekend in small community
By JOHN RECH
news@theeveningtimes.com
Four people were wounded in Earle in two separate shootings over the weekend. Crittenden County Chief Investigator Todd Grooms said the two shooting happened at the same intersection about 24 hours apart.
The first shooting happened Saturday evening. About a dozen people gathered around the grill for dinner near the corner Vera and Lincoln Street. Shots rang out and the crowd scattered. “When we got there everyone had left the scene except the shooting victims,” said Grooms.
Police recovered 30 shell casings from the yard. One person was wounded in the rear end and one in the torso. Investigators said both victims were expected to recover.
On Sunday evening shooting erupted again and two more were wounded. One victim was grazed in the shoulder and the other in the leg. Police collected 13 more casings on Sunday.
“Since it was the same spot, some of the casings recovered Sunday may have been from Saturday,” said Grooms. “It’s amazing with the amount of shots fired how little damage there was done to nearby houses and buildings.”
Pastor Otis Davis, a stalwart in the community, did report his church van glass shot up. Davis, a former mayor in Earle and state representative, called on city leaders to quell the violence.
“We hear gun shots almost every night and no one does anything,” said Davis. “We pay policeman $10 an hour, that is not enough. I lay blame on city leaders who won’t enforce codes already on the books.”
Davis said the shootings were indicative of a lack of will by city council and Mayor Sherman Smith to enforce codes.
“We have a dog problem that prevents the letter carrier from delivering mail. We have animal control ordinances on the book no one will do anything about.”
Davis said the residential streets in the area of the shooting are used as drag racing strips.
“It’s nothing to see cars racing at upwards of 65 miles an hour, I’m not kidding,” said Davis. “The police won’t write a ticket. Ten dollars an hour is not enough to hire effective policing. We have no ambulance service either. We wait for help from the county sheriff or an ambulance to run from Marion.”
Davis called on the city to step up its responses.
“We are a class one city just like West Memphis and Marion, but we have no services,” said Davis. “If we can’t quell crime, city council should contract the police work out to the county.”
Sheriff investigators asked for leads from the community.
“We need witnesses to come forward so we can catch the shooters and better protect the community,” said Grooms.
Anyone with any information about these incidents is urged to contact Crittenden County Crime Stoppers at (870) 732-4444. All calls will be kept confidential.
GROOMS
