Police say 3 fatally shot in Arkansas, suspect in custody

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Three people were shot to death and a fourth person was wounded during a party at a home in Blytheville in northeastern Arkansas and a suspect was later arrested in Missouri, according to Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson.

The suspect was arrested near St. Louis on three first-degree murder warrants and one warrant of battery, Thompson said Sunday. The suspect remains jailed in Missouri pending extradition.

Court records do not show that formal charges have been filed.

Thompson said Oscar Lane, 54 and the suspect’s uncle, was dead at the scene of the Saturday shooting while Joyce Adams, 54, and Virginia Bailey, 29, were also shot and died later at separate hospitals.

The fourth shooting victim was recovering.

The shooting occurred during a fight among people attending a party at the home, but the suspect was not involved in the altercation, according to Thompson.

“There is no explanation why (he) began shooting people,” and the suspect has not provided a motive, Thompson said.

Thompson said the man is also suspected of stealing a vehicle from the scene of the shooting and driving to Missouri, where he was arrested Sunday morning by the Missouri Highway Patrol.