On an evening in early April, the quiet of Parkin, a community near Wynne, Arkansas, was shattered by violence that would leave two men dead and a sheriff wounded. Inside a residence on Smithdale Avenue, on April 3, 2022, 47-year-old Shoron Selvy and another individual, Patricia Pepper, were shot. Emergency services were called to the scene shortly before 9 p.m., where they found both Selvy and Pepper suffering from gunshot wounds.
Both victims were transported to a hospital for medical attention, but Shoron Selvy, a male, succumbed to his injuries and passed away. Pepper, however, was listed in stable condition after being taken to a hospital in Memphis.
Witnesses at the scene were able to provide law enforcement with a name for the person they saw leaving the residence before police arrived: 20-year-old Darius Kirkwood. This identification sparked a multi-agency response to locate and apprehend the suspected shooter. Not long after the incident, a Wynne police officer spotted Kirkwood driving at a high rate of speed on U.S. Highway 64, forcing other vehicles off the road. The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Kirkwood fled, leading to a high-speed pursuit.
The chase continued with Cross County sheriff's deputies joining the effort to stop the fleeing vehicle. The pursuit moved through Wynne and onto Arkansas Highway 1, heading towards Forrest City, before Kirkwood turned onto a county road and eventually came to a stop. At this point, law enforcement officers tried to get Kirkwood to exit his vehicle, but he refused to comply with their commands. As officers approached the vehicle in an attempt to forcibly remove him, an exchange of gunfire erupted. In the shootout, Darius Kirkwood was killed at the scene. Cross County Sheriff David West sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound during the confrontation and was transported to a Memphis hospital, where he was treated and later released. The Arkansas State Police was called in to investigate both the homicide of Shoron Selvy and the officer-involved shooting of Darius Kirkwood.
