TheeBadOne
Member
Police kill son of civil rights figure
Little Rock 9 offspring fatally shot after firing assault rifle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 2 — An officer fatally shot the son of one of the Little Rock Nine, the group of blacks who integrated the city’s schools in 1957, police said.
POLICE SAID they were called after neighbors saw the man, Erin Eckford, 26, firing an assault rifle into the air Wednesday night.
Eckford was asked to put the weapon down, and when he did not, officers fired a bean bag round at him, to no avail, police Sgt. Terry Hastings said.
Eckford then began firing the assault rifle again, and police shot back, firing seven to 10 rounds and hitting him six times, Hastings said.
Eckford died at a hospital.
The three officers involved were placed on administrative leave with pay, the normal procedure, pending a police investigation of the shooting.
Eckford, a student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was the son of Elizabeth Eckford. She was among the students who broke the color barrier at Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
Elizabeth Eckford declined to comment, a family friend said. Her son had a short criminal history with a marijuana charge in 1997 and a firearm possession charge in 2000.
A neighbor, LaWanda McKinnie, said she saw Erin Eckford carrying a rifle while her son and friends were playing basketball. She said she asked a passing man with a cellular telephone to call police.
“I feel like it’s all my fault,†she said. “He eventually would have gone back into his house. But I didn’t want him to shoot that gun with all the kids outside.â€
© 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/854120.asp?0dm=N24DN
Little Rock 9 offspring fatally shot after firing assault rifle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 2 — An officer fatally shot the son of one of the Little Rock Nine, the group of blacks who integrated the city’s schools in 1957, police said.
POLICE SAID they were called after neighbors saw the man, Erin Eckford, 26, firing an assault rifle into the air Wednesday night.
Eckford was asked to put the weapon down, and when he did not, officers fired a bean bag round at him, to no avail, police Sgt. Terry Hastings said.
Eckford then began firing the assault rifle again, and police shot back, firing seven to 10 rounds and hitting him six times, Hastings said.
Eckford died at a hospital.
The three officers involved were placed on administrative leave with pay, the normal procedure, pending a police investigation of the shooting.
Eckford, a student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was the son of Elizabeth Eckford. She was among the students who broke the color barrier at Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
Elizabeth Eckford declined to comment, a family friend said. Her son had a short criminal history with a marijuana charge in 1997 and a firearm possession charge in 2000.
A neighbor, LaWanda McKinnie, said she saw Erin Eckford carrying a rifle while her son and friends were playing basketball. She said she asked a passing man with a cellular telephone to call police.
“I feel like it’s all my fault,†she said. “He eventually would have gone back into his house. But I didn’t want him to shoot that gun with all the kids outside.â€
© 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/854120.asp?0dm=N24DN