Rodney Austin, 44, a Black male from North Little Rock, was shot on the evening of Saturday, April 8, 2017, after going to a residence on McArthur Drive to help a female relative during a domestic disturbance. Police said a man and his girlfriend had been arguing at the home; Austin arrived in response to concerns about the woman’s safety and was struck by gunfire. He was taken to a hospital, where he died the next morning, Sunday, April 9, at about 7:45 a.m.
Authorities identified him publicly soon after and described the shooting as stemming from the domestic dispute inside the residence.
Investigators named 28-year-old Felton Duncan as the suspect and launched a search. Within eleven days, U.S. Marshals arrested Duncan in Little Rock, and North Little Rock police booked him on a charge of first-degree murder in Austin’s death. The arrest closed an intensive manhunt that began the night of the shooting; police had previously warned that the suspect fled the scene after the confrontation.
Austin’s killing and the days before the arrest drew public appeals from his family and community advocates, who said he had been ambushed while trying to protect kin. Vigils and calls for information followed as detectives gathered statements and evidence from the scene on McArthur Drive. News reports and memorial postings noted his death date and the location, reflecting the timeline from the shooting to his death at the hospital and the subsequent arrest.
