MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The new mayor of Blytheville, Arkansas, and the city’s long-time police chief are going after guns and the people using them following a deadly shooting Monday.
Rasheed Henry, 23, was shot several times in the 500 block of E McHaney Street and later died at the hospital.
It’s the third fatal shooting in Blytheville since Mayor Melisa Logan took office a few months ago.
Tuesday, during a Facebook live with Police Chief Ross Thompson, Logan said she’s tired of the gun violence and even wore a t-shirt with the word ‘Enough’ on it.
“I’m not going to take it anymore. No matter what I have to do, how loud I have to cry or how many justice halls I have to walk, how many days I have to walk these streets with the police department in tow, we are going to come to you,” said Logan. “We cannot keep this up. At this rate, we will not have anyone left.”
Mayor Logan is asking anyone who knows anything about the shootings to come forward and said she is calling for searches of vehicles to pull guns from the streets.
“Help us get these guns off the street. I don’t want to lose another baby to senseless gun crime, and if you are planning on retaliating, you have another thing coming. We are looking for you. We are going to be hot on these streets. If we pull you over, make sure stuff is right,” said Logan.
Police Chief Thompson said his department is partnering with state police and the FBI and will pursue federal gun charges. Thompson said they are also relying on the public’s help to solve and even prevent these gun crimes.
“The community does reach out to us,” said Chief Thompson “Criminals think they can con these good citizens, law-abiding citizens. They do talk to us. They have been talking to us.”
Chief Thompson said he doesn’t want to have to talk to another parent about the senseless killing of their child and said those involved in gang activity and gun violence have the most to lose.
“We are going to be cracking down on this stuff,” Thompson said. “Put the guns down, or you are going to end up in a cemetery like the mayor said, or you are going to end up in jail.”
If you have any information that can help police, call Blytheville CrimeStoppers at (844)-910-STOP.