After the shooting, the suspect barricaded himself inside the house for more than 4½ hours before being arrested. Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office officials report that Deputy Bill Cooper is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery. A K-9 dog, who was shot, was reported missing, Hollenbeck said.
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The sheriff said the dog apparently ran into a heavily wooded area nearby and had not been found as of Wednesday afternoon.
In a press release, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge thanked Deputy Cooper. “We stand with you during this hard time”, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.
“Today’s shooting incident … tragically illustrates the dangers our law enforcement officers face each and every day to keep us safe”, Hutchinson said in a statement. The sheriff’s office did not say whether any formal charges have been filed. Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said the suspected is believed to have used an assault-style rifle and may have had body armor during the standoff. Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells was also shot and suffered superficial wounds.
Hollenbeck said Jones had gone to his father’s house earlier Wednesday to take some tools.
“Jones wanted to cause what was told to us as a “ruckus” and he was due in court in Fort Smith regarding a petition to revoke a suspended sentence charge”.
Sebastian County Deputy Bill Cooper died of a fatal wound to his neck after Jones shot him, Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said at a news conference.
“Immediately when three officers got [to the house] they were basically ambushed”, Sgt. Daniel Grubbs with the Fort Smith Police Department told CBS affiliate KFSM. Deputy Cooper showed enormous courage in the line of duty and in the face of incredible danger.
The shooting happened near the intersection of Arkansas 253 and Boone Road around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Sebastian County Sheriff’s Lt. Philip Pevehouse tells Fort Smith television station KHBS that negotiators are attempting the reach the suspect. He said the officers from several different departments had no idea what they were walking into.
Other deputies braved gunfire to pull Cooper and Spells from the scene to bring them to EMS, so they could be taken to the hospital, the station reports.
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“As Arkansas’s chief law enforcement officer, I extend my thoughts and prayers to Deputy Cooper’s family, friends and brothers and sisters in law enforcement across our state, as well as Hackett Chief of Police Darrell Spells, who was also injured in today’s tragic incident”.
