On July 24, 1984, a shooting unfolded at the lounge of the Grand Central Motor Lodge in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. Among the victims was Juanita Ritchie Allen, a 45-year-old Female resident of Hot Springs. Contemporary reports identify that a man entered the motel lounge armed with a handgun and a shotgun and opened fire, striking patrons and staff inside.
In the minutes leading up to the attack, the same assailant had shot and wounded a police officer during a traffic stop in downtown Hot Springs before driving to the motel.
The rampage left four people dead inside or just outside the lounge: Helen C. Frazee James F. Stephens Tom Altringer and Juanita Ritchie Allen. Another patron, identified as John D. Crue, was wounded. Records corroborate the ages and identities of those killed and place the event at Hot Springs National Park on July 24, 1984.
Authorities named the suspect as Wayne Lee Crossley of Benton, Arkansas. After the shootings at the lounge, officers prepared to move in; the suspect then fatally shot himself, ending the incident. Because the suspect died by suicide at the scene, there were no arrests in connection with the killings of Female victim Juanita Ritchie Allen. Subsequent civil litigation referenced the episode, noting that the suspect used both a pistol and a shotgun in the attack and confirming that he committed suicide after killing the victims and wounding others.
Available memorial and cemetery records confirm the death details for Female victim Juanita Ritchie Allen on July 24, 1984, in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, and list her as “Juanita Ritchie Allen.” These sources do not report her ethnicity, and no reliable contemporaneous accounts provide that detail.
In sum, Female victim Juanita Ritchie Allen was killed during a mass shooting at the Grand Central Motor Lodge lounge in Hot Springs National Park on July 24, 1984. The identified suspect was Wayne Lee Crossley; he died by suicide at the scene, so no arrest was made. Publicly available records from news reports, legal case summaries, and memorial listings corroborate the key facts, but they do not document the victim's ethnicity.
