ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (ABP) — A shooting incident the afternoon of Nov. 19 on the perimeter of the Ouachita Baptist University campus didn’t involve any students and ended with no injuries and three suspects quickly arrested, according to authorities.
The alleged assailants fired from a parking lot owned by the Arkansas Baptist State Convention-affiliated school, but apparently targeted a student at neighboring Henderson State University. The student was walking across the lot, which borders both campuses, while returning to a Henderson State dormitory.
Police in the town of Arkadelphia, where the schools are located, said none of three “people of interest” held after the shooting attended either school. One of the three was reportedly the intended victim’s ex-girlfriend.
Henderson State President Charles Welch said he first learned of the incident about 3:35 p.m., right after Arkadelphia police were called. While discussing whether to implement the campus’ crisis plan, officials learned that potential suspects had been apprehended off campus.
The Henderson State administration later sent an e-mail to faculty, staff and students notifying them about the incident and assured them that campus police believed the campus was safe. Welch told Little Rock ABC television affiliate KATV-7 that campus officers reported a “relatively calm scene” shortly after the shooting.
Ouachita President Rex Horne sent an e-mail to students, parents, faculty and staff that was posted on the university website shortly after 6 p.m.
“In the interest of open communication, I need to inform you about an incident that occurred this afternoon on the edge of the Ouachita campus,” Horne said.
He said that while no one was injured and the incident involved no Ouachita students, at least one gunshot was reportedly fired. He said campus safety would provide an increased presence in the area for the next several days and urged prayer for everyone involved in the situation.
Keldon Henley, Ouachita’s dean of students, said administrators chose to use e-mail and the OBU website to inform the campus community about the incident. They used that method rather than activating the school’s emergency-alert system, he said, “because the individuals involved were already apprehended when Ouachita was informed of the shooting.”
Ouachita, Arkansas Baptists’ flagship institution of higher education, is located about 65 miles southwest of Little Rock.
Police declined to release the names of two women and a man stopped outside of town shortly after the shooting. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Nov. 20 that the intended victim was the ex-boyfriend of a woman trying to get money back after a breakup. The report said information is scarce, and police are still trying to locate witnesses.
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Bob Allen ([email protected]) is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Trennis Henderson, Ouachita Baptist University’s vice president for communications, contributed to this story.