Pine Bluff shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 paramedics injured

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A shooting in Pine Bluff early Thursday left one person dead and two paramedics injured, police reported.

It happened about 4:38 a.m. in the 1400 block of West 23rd Street. Paramedics John Spriggs, 21, and Joshua Godfrey, 35, told police they were treating a woman who had been beaten by her boyfriend when the boyfriend approached their ambulance, according to a police report.

John Bishop, the CEO of Emergency Ambulance Service, Inc. said he was in, “Utter shock. [It’s] something you can never prepare for, plan on. Just ultimately, [I was] very worried for my crew.”

The boyfriend, identified as Kevin Curl Jr., 22, reportedly got into a dispute with Spriggs. Curl then pulled a gun and shot Spriggs and Godfrey. Spriggs returned fire.

“All we heard were some gunshots, we walked out of the house, and the paramedic was slumped on the floor," said witness Amarion Means. "He was good and stuff, he was like, ‘I’m still alive, go check on the other dude.”

When officers arrived, Curl was dead. Spriggs was lying on the ground and Godfrey was bleeding in the back of an ambulance.

“This is something that we’ve never had to deal with. It’s not something we ever thought in the realm of possibility," said Bishop.

Spriggs, Godfrey and Curl's girlfriend were taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center for treatment. Speaking of his paramedics, Bishop said, “They’re a great team. They’re both family men, both have kids of their own, and they’re just out here trying to provide the best care they can to the citizens of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County. Unfortunately, this is just a tragic, tragic incident.”

Bishop did confirm that both Spriggs and Godfrey underwent surgery Thursday morning and are currently in stable condition.