A U.S. soldier was killed and a second was wounded Monday in an apparent drive-by shooting at a recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas, police said.
The second soldier’s injuries were not life-threatening, said police Lt. Terry Hastings. Authorities were notified about 10:19 a.m. (11:19 a.m. ET) about a shooting at the Army/Navy Career Center, Hastings said. Arriving officers found the two soldiers had been shot. The soldiers were part of a recruiting program called “hometown recruiting assistance,” said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion that oversees the Little Rock recruiting center. Under the program, recruiters have the soldiers tell their stories to potential recruits. It’s a volunteer position taken while soldiers are visiting or based back in their home region, Artis said. The two victims were just out of basic training, he said, and had not been deployed. Watch as Hastings reports from the scene ยป
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Police believe a man in a black SUV drove by and fired on the soldiers as they were standing outside, Hastings said. A suspect was arrested after officers saw a vehicle matching the description on a nearby interstate and pulled it over. Authorities searched the vehicle and found an assault rifle, Hastings said. A bomb squad was called in, as police were concerned about two bags in the vehicle, but no explosives were found, he said.
The FBI has opened an investigation into the incident, said Steven Frazier, spokesman for the agency’s Little Rock office. “Based on what we find, we will determine whether there is any federal jurisdiction to prosecute,” he said. Police are trying to determine a motive in the shooting, Hastings said.
