The April 13 Fifth Avenue Park shooting, which left two dead and nine injured, continues to send shockwaves across the Conway community.
Residents gathered for answers at city hall April 15, where Mayor Bart Castleberry and police chief Chris Harris gave statements and updates about the incident.
The conference was brief, with Castleberry opening with his condolences to the victims and their families.
“I cannot imagine the loss the families feel for these young lives,” Castleberry said. “There’s no excuse for this.”
Castleberry confirmed the event was planned by an out-of-town promoter and that a majority of the attendees were not Conway residents.
“If this [event] had gone through the normal processes of the city, this event would not have taken place,” Castleberry said.
Castleberry concluded his statement with a promise of justice.
“The heat is on you and they are coming for you,” Castleberry said. “You will pay for this.”
Harris provided updates about the case, most notably disclosing the names of the deceased: Tatayana Penister, 24, of England, Arkansas, and Demetrius Feemster II, 23, of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Harris said of the nine wounded, one was in serious condition and was currently recovering from surgery in ICU. The other eight victims received non-life-threatening injuries.
It has been confirmed that at least six shooters were at the scene, with over 100 rounds fired during the shooting, Harris said.
“Approximately 7:45 p.m., officers responded to reports of shots fired,” Harris said. “Upon arrival, officers were met with a chaotic scene and multiple individuals suffering from gunshot wounds.”
Harris also confirmed the event was not in any way affiliated with UCA, despite promoters using UCA logos to advertise and witnesses calling it a college event.
“I’m not even sure if that’s legal,” Harris said. “But they had nothing to do with it. Nor was there a permit issued by the city of Conway.”
Harris said he has encountered many parties like these during his time in law enforcement, in which attendees are not given the address on the day of or even a few hours before the party begins.
Harris did confirm Conway police had shut down a party in the Fifth Avenue and Airport Park area on Saturday night, but had been unaware of Sunday’s gathering.
“We did not find out about this until late Sunday evening,” Harris said.
Harris also confirmed U.S. Marshals based out of the Little Rock office were aiding in the investigation.
At the end of his statement, Harris said police were looking into all matters of the investigation and were listening to the concerns of the community.
One of these elements is whether or not police officers were patrolling the Fifth Avenue Park Sunday evening prior to the shooting.
Despite this, he said no updates would come out about the case until the investigation is complete.
Harris took minimal questions from the media and the news conference ended with something of an uproar, as residents pleaded for more information.
One of the residents, Mike Gosnell, owns Fifth Avenue Apartments, located across from the park where the shooting occurred.
Gosnell claimed he had called 911 as early as 2 p.m.
“I told them they needed to get more officers here,” Gosnell said. “I called the sheriff’s office. I said ‘You need to give them some help — they’re outgunned. They’ve got people with guns out here and somebody is going to get killed. I wished I was wrong. They didn’t want to listen.”
Gosnell said he received many complaints from tenants about the party.
“They were scared to death,” Gosnell said. “They were scared for their lives.”
Gosnell said mass gatherings like these had occurred before in the area, though none of them had ever escalated to the level of Sunday night’s incident.
“I’m tired of this,” Gosnell said. “[Conway police] doesn’t want to do anything anymore.”
Police have not made arrests or given the names of any suspects at this time.
