Ark. shooting a reminder of fears

Freshman TJ Beringer said he was spending time in his University of Central Arkansas dorm room when he heard five distinct gunshots ring outside his window Sunday evening.
Little did he know that two of his fellow students, Chavares Block and Ryan Henderson, had been shot around 9 p.m. in an alleyway between Arkansas Hall, a residence hall, and the Snow Fine Arts Center.
‘I’m very shaken and on edge’ he said. ‘I don’t like knowing that I heard the gunshots that killed two men.’
The incident that left 19-year-old Block dead on the scene did not appear to be random, according to a UCA Police Department press release. Henderson, an 18-year-old freshman, was transported to Conway Regional Medical Center, where he died at the hospital. A third victim, Martrevis Norman, who is not a UCA student, was treated at the hospital and survived the shooting.
Sophomore JeMarcus Moody lived in the same residence hall as Block and spoke to him every day.’
‘He was a good guy, who shouldn’t have gotten taken away,’ Moody said. ‘Most people that I knew were just shocked because we all knew Chavares and were good friends with him, and he really was a really good person. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.’
UCAPD arrived shortly after the shots were fired and, following the incident, the university dispatched all 25 UCAPD officers, who were posted at every campus entrance. Access to the campus was limited to residents and all residence halls and the UCA student center were locked down, according to the press release.
The university initiated its automated alert system and emails were sent to all UCA students and faculty members. The university also released information about the incident on its website’s homepage.
Though Beringer commended the school for its deft handling of the incident, he felt the university could have done a better job of informing students about the shooting.
‘The school and emergency personnel handled the situation very well,’ Beringer said. ‘As far as informing students, they could have done better. The email did not go through to some students. For an hour or two after the shooting, many students were just standing outside by the scene, and we were not in lockdown as some media has [sic] been saying. Lockdown did not occur until 11 or 12 [that night], I believe. No students should have been allowed anywhere near this scene because, for one, it was a campus shooting, and two, four suspects were still on the loose somewhere.
Sophomore Mathew Peterson found out about the shooting through Facebook. He said the shooting shocked him because the school puts a heavy emphasis on security and has a large police presence on campus.
‘I think the school acted very quickly to secure the area,’ Peterson said. ‘At 10:30 [that night], they gathered us all in our lobby and gave us the basic information of what had occurred, although we knew most of it already from Facebook.’
While he felt the university handled the situation well, Peterson said officials did not do a great of a job informing students about details surrounding the incident.
‘To be honest, the university was more concerned with securing the area than keeping the students informed, which I guess is the right thing to do,’ he said
A candlelight memorial, arranged by the UCA Student Government Association, took place yesterday evening at the UCA Fountain, and a prayer vigil will be held this afternoon.
Sophomore April Ledbetter attended the vigil to pray for the families of the victims.
‘I couldn’t believe that I no longer feel safe at my own campus anymore’ she said. ‘When Virginia Tech happened, I thought to myself, ‘Not UCA . . . never.’ Now, I know it can happen anytime, anywhere.’
UCAPD apprehended four suspects in Sunday’s shooting and transported them to the Faulkner County Detention Center where they will be detained until 1 p.m. today when the Faulkner County Prosecutor is expected to file charges. None of the suspects in custody are UCA students.