By Tia Lyons
A 12-year-old El Dorado boy was shot and killed Thursday evening, and police worked late into the night trying to identify a suspect and determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Officers were called just before 7 p.m. to the area of Cook and Louisiana in reference to a shooting in which a boy had been injured.
Capt. Kevin Holt, public information officer for the El Dorado Police Department, said the boy succumbed to his injuries. The boy was transported by ambulance to the Medical Center of South Arkansas.
Holt said he did not know if the 12-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene or after he arrived at MCSA.
Details about the shooting were still sketchy just before press time Thursday, and Holt said police were still notifying relatives about the boy’s death.
Two hours after the shooting, officers were still investigating the scene and interviewing witnesses, who were eagerly stepping forward to speak with investigators, Holt said.
A crowd of concerned and curious onlookers lingered in the area as passersby rubbernecked from their vehicles in a heavy traffic flow that slowly snaked east along Cook and detoured just west of the crime scene and south onto the extension of Louisiana between Cook and E&B.
“We’re still trying to put it all together. I can’t confirm or deny what you’re asking me right now,” Holt told the News-Times.
He said the shot(s) that struck the boy were fired from another location and not in the area of Cook and Louisiana, and officers were looking at a second crime scene.
“We’re attempting to locate additional witnesses and we’re trying to locate the firearm,” Holt said.
Anyone with any information about the shooting is urged to call (870) 881-4810 or (870) 863-INFO (4636).