Twin Towers shooting leads to two arrests

By Jerrica Hutchison, Herald Staff

Two men were arrested for incidents involving gunshots fired outside of Twin Towers Tuesday.

Melvin Lowe of Marion was arrested at 1 p.m. Tuesday for firing a shotgun outside of Twin Towers, which occurred at 3:41 a.m. Oct. 7, according to Capt. Mike Archer of the University Police Department. Lowe is not affiliated with Arkansas State University.

Kenneth Johnson, a sophomore undecided major of Marion, also was arrested Tuesday for filing a false report of the incident.

Many conflicting stories from various people claiming to have witnessed the incident hampered the UPD from solving the crime.

Johnson had been interviewed directly following the shootings. He stated in a UPD report the incident was caused earlier that day when, while at a party at the Pavilion, a close friend of his was hit over the head with a bottle. After returning from the hospital, he said a man (Melvin Lowe) standing outside of the dorm asked him "if he knew a tall, dark football player with braids."

Johnson said he didn't know who Lowe was talking about but said he had an idea of who the man was. Johnson said Lowe was holding a gun and some shells and was "about his height (6 ft.) with an Afro." He also stated he had seen Lowe around but didn't really know him.

According to Johnson, Lowe soon left and a student named Jerome Stegall pulled up to Twin Towers some time later. After Stegall got out of his car, both guys heard someone yell but couldn't see the person because he was standing in the shadows behind the Center of Excellence of Education Building on the corner of Aggie Road, Johnson said.

Stegall continued walking and two shots were fired. Johnson said everyone standing outside ran into the dorm.

Johnson went immediately into the bathroom and was confronted by Stegall and a couple of other guys. The guys accused Johnson of firing the shots and followed him up to his room. Stegall started to swing at him. Johnson said he swung back in self-defense when three other guys jumped on him. The police arrived and broke the fight up soon after it began, according to the report.

However, this report was not entirely true. Because many of the statements were contradictory, UPD officers decided to give polygraph tests to some of the suspects, including Johnson.

UPD officers decided to cancel the other tests after receiving the results from Johnson's test, which contradicted his previous statements.

Johnson was called in on the morning of Oct. 30. Officers told him they knew he was lying and unless he confessed they would arrest him for obstruction of justice and hindering apprehension. Johnson came back one hour later with Lowe and said that he was the actual suspect.

"We knew by the results that Johnson had not actually committed the crime," Archer said, "but that he was close enough to smell the actual smoke from the gun shot."

After returning with Lowe, Johnson gave the actual version of what had happened that night. He said Lowe was the one who had fired the gun, but that he had been right by him when the shooting happened. Witnesses had mistaken Johnson to be the actual suspect because he and Lowe had kept switching places. Johnson was right in front of Lowe before the shots, and then Lowe stepped out. The witnesses just mistook Johnson for Lowe," Archer said.

Lowe denied any involvement in the incident after Johnson brought him in.

Officers interviewed him and released him, but he returned at 1 p.m. Tuesday to confess and turn himself in. He was then arrested and taken to the Craighead County Jail.

Johnson was arrested for filing a false report. His court date has not yet been set.
Consequences may be very severe, Archer said.

Roger Lee, Dean of Student Affairs and Archer served Lowe with a letter stating that he is not allowed on campus and can be arrested for trespassing if he is seen on ASU property.

"We need to make sure this will never happen again," Archer said.

Archer also said that had Johnson given a straight answer at the beginning, the affair could have been closed earlier. "Lowe had ran behind Twin and thrown the shotgun into one of the dumpsters while we were talking to all the witnesses," he said. "The trucks come to pick up the trash at 4 a.m., so the main evidence was long gone before we even had a suspect in custody."

Both Lowe and Johnson have been served with Class A misdemeanors. "That is the most severe misdemeanor you can get," Archer said.