West Memphis Mayor reacts to fatal shooting of 2-year-old

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (WMC) - West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon spoke before media regarding the shooting that took place on North 18th Street.

McClendon confirmed the two victims of the drive-by shooting were a woman and her 2-year-old son.

The mother drove herself and her son to Baptist Crittenden after the shooting, but the 2-year-old died.

The mother is currently recovering at Regional One in Memphis.

“This is a horrific tragedy that has happening in our community,” McClendon said.

We’re told that the woman and child, who McClendon said he knew the names of but chose not to disclose, were not the intended targets of the shooting.

McClendon would not confirm if the situation is domestic, but he claims he is exhausting every resource at his disposal to apprehend the suspect(s).

“When you have these senseless and cowardly actions that go on, it just goes to show you how one or two bad seeds can make a whole community seem bad,” McClendon said. “It doesn’t reflect the people of West Memphis.”

Throughout Friday morning, we spoke with neighbors on N. 18th Street.

No one would go on camera but did talk about the gunshots waking them up in the early hours of the morning.

Later in the day, a large police presence was seen near the corner of McCauley and Ferguson, less than a mile from the scene of the shooting.

McClendon would not confirm if the two are connected.

“If you know anything, tell. It’s the time. This is not the time where people need to be like ‘I don’t believe in snitching,’” McClendon said. “If you have any information about this case, it’s best for you to report it to our police department.”

Anyone with information is asked to call West Memphis Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 870-732-7554 or Crittenden County Crime Stoppers at 870-732-4444.

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