James Markward, who lives nearby, said he heard a commotion early Wednesday. Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells suffered superficial wounds and is expected to recover. Law officers, under fire, rescued Cooper and Spells and also civilians who had taken cover, the sheriff said.
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He said the incident illustrates how important it is for the community to support law enforcement.
CBS affiliate KFSM reports the suspect has been identified as Billy Monroe Jones of Greenwood. His most recent conviction was in February for charges of firearms by certain persons and possessions of a controlled substance, schedule I and II.
Cooper died later at an area hospital.
Spells was treated and released from Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith.
At the same time, Hollenbeck said, information developed that Jones wanted to cause a “ruckus” because he was due Wednesday afternoon in circuit court in Fort Smith on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence.
A K-9 officer, a German Shepherd named Kina, was likely shot. He said Cooper had been a deputy since 2001. He has not yet been charged.
Emergency medical services from Sebastian County and Fort Smith were at the scene. “It’s a shame the price that law enforcement officers are paying right now and, again, I don’t know any details about what’s happening here, but my heart and prayer is with them and their families”.
After the shooting, the suspect barricaded himself inside his house.
Cooper spent the past fifteen years with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office.
The officers were shot at after a call came in at around 7 a.m. CT ( 8 a.m. ET) that a son had pulled a gun on his father during an argument, Hollenbeck said.
Sebastian County, on the Arkansas-Oklahoma border, is about150 miles west of Little Rock.
An Arkansas deputy is dead after a standoff in Hackett.
One Sebastian County deputy and one Hackett police officer were shot on the Arkansas highway 253, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Here is a flawless example of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid in order to keep our community safe”, Hollenbeck said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
TWO police officers are reported to have been shot in an ongoing incident in the US.
Sebastian County’s Philip Pevehouse said Jones is not being cooperative and is carrying a semi-automatic weapon. Pevehouse says the shooter is believed to be “holed up” inside.
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No other details were immediately released. The Sebastian County deputy is in critical condition, said Van Buren Detective Jonathan Wear.
