Reward Increases To $40,000 In Hunt Of Road Rage Gunman Who Allegedly Shot And Killed 3-Year-Old Acen King

Police officials in Little Rock, Arkansas, say a manhunt is underway for the person responsible for the road rage shooting that killed 3-year-old Acen King, and a reward, which has increased to $40,000, is being offered for more information.

According to Arkansas Online, 47-year-old Kim King-Macon was traveling in her 2006 Dodge Charger with her grandchildren in the back seat on Saturday when a driver, who is being described as a black male, in an older model Chevrolet Impala began honking the horn when she took too long to turn westbound onto Mabelvale Cut Off Drive from Warren Drive.

Macon reportedly honked her horn back at the driver, prompting the driver to exit his vehicle and fire one shot before fleeing the scene.

Afterward, the grandmother continued driving, believing no one was injured in the road rage shooting, but when she reached JCPenney at the Shackleford Crossings shopping center, she realized King had been shot.

The boy was reportedly slumped over in the backseat, and she immediately called 911, saying, “My grandson has been shot. Oh, my God! I was at the stop sign and the guy blew a horn at me and I blew it back, and he shot, but I thought it was in the air. He shot at the car.”

When emergency services arrived at the scene, King was transported to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead just shortly after arrival.

King’s sibling, who was also in the back seat during the road rage shooting, and the grandmother was not injured.

Little Rock police officials determined that the grandmother was innocent in the road rage shooting and had no relationship with the gunman.

Chief Kenton Buckner, who is with the Little Rock Police Department, stated that “it should shock all of our conscience. I certainly have no information to say that anyone in this family has done anything to cost this young person’s life. But this is about as frustrating as you can be as a public safety official or just a plain citizen.”

King’s death marks the 40th homicide of the year in Arkansas and the second child to die in a road rage incident. Back in November, a 2-year-old girl was traveling with her mother, 37-year-old Shunta Johnson, when the driver of a passing vehicle opened fire, killing the child.

The gunman in that road rage murder case has not been captured.

Buckner said, “Road rage killings were frustrating for the police department and the community, especially because the young victims were very innocent and can do very little to protect themselves.”

“We cannot have a community to where the least protected among us, being infants, who are dying these senseless crimes in our city.”

As of now, Little Rock police have very little information on the road rage suspect but are hoping to make an arrest soon.

Little Rock Police Department Lt. Steve McClanahan said, “There are some things that we can do. I’m not going to go into all the specifics of what they are, but of course we work with our Arkansas Department of Motor Vehicles. You know, there are searches that we can do for a particular car or particular color.”

Terrence Long, who is a local pastor, is asking for the gunman to turn himself in. He went on to say that he knows someone saw something on the night of the fatal shooting and wants them to come forward with information.

“If you don’t say nothing, you’re just as guilty as the person that did it,” the Mercy Church Pastor stated. “If you’ve seen this black Impala in your neighborhood, at your neighbor’s house let someone know.”

“In order for this guy to be coming out of this neighborhood, he had to know someone in the neighborhood. He had to be visiting someone in the neighborhood, and we need to know who that was.”

Little Rock police officials say they were offering a $20,000 reward for more information, but just two days after the road rage shooting, that amount increased to $40,000.

[Featured Image by P_Wei/iStock]