1 dead, 3 hurt after shots fired outside Arkansas graduation
May 12, 2022, 4:31 PM | Updated: May 13, 2022, 1:19 pm
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — A man opened fire outside an Arkansas convention center after a high school graduation ceremony, killing one person and wounding three others and exchanging gunfire with police, authorities said Friday.
The shooting happened Thursday night outside the Hot Springs Convention Center, which had hosted a graduation ceremony for Hot Springs World Class High School, said Officer Omar Cervantes. Hot Springs officers then wounded the suspect, Charles Johnson, 25, who fled and was later arrested at a hospital on a murder warrant.
Authorities have not said what led to the fight, but Hot Springs School District Superintendent Stephanie Nehus said in a statement that no current students or graduates were involved.
Cervantes said in a statement that Hot Springs police officers and Garland County deputies were trying to defuse the situation when a single gunman began shooting into the crowd. He identified the man who died as Michael Jordan, 39. Others had non-life threatening wounds, he said.
Johnson’s condition was not released. Jail records do not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf and court records do not show that he has been formally charged.
The shooting happened near downtown Hot Springs, a popular tourist destination that’s about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southwest of Little Rock.
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