A chief ranger for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism was fatally shot in his home Sunday, a Pulaski County sheriff’s office spokesman said.
Jerry Digman, 58, was found dead with at least one gunshot wound in his 23919 Arkansas 300 home about 11:40 a.m. Sunday, Lt. Carl Minden said. No one had been arrested in connection with the death Sunday evening.
Pulaski County sheriff’s deputies said the death didn’t appear to be a suicide, but did not release further details on the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Digman and his wife were at the home at the time of the shooting, authorities said.
Further details about the shooting were unavailable Sunday evening, as authorities didn’t release where Digman was shot or what type of weapon was used. Minden said the sheriff’s office will release a report on the shooting soon when it is completed.
Investigators secured a search warrant for the home Sunday afternoon and were searching the home for evidence Sunday evening.
After nearly three decades of service for the Arkansas State Police, Digman began working as the chief ranger of the Parks Department’s Law Enforcement Division in late July or early August, Parks Director Greg Butts said Sunday.
“Jerry had been retired from the Arkansas State Police with extensive experience,” Butts said. “He was an expert from the standpoint of law enforcement. He was the right fit [for the chief ranger position].”
As chief ranger, Digman was responsible for training the department’s new law-enforcement officers, along with maintaining skill sets for all officers.
“He was a great employee,” he said. “He was always a very positive, outgoing guy - very friendly. He was critical to our program and bringing young folks along.
“It’s a loss to our department.”
The Lawrence County native was commissioned as a state trooper on July 1, 1980, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said.
In 1991, he received the Trooper of the Year award after cracking a theft-ring operation in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
The bust led to recovery of more than $400,000 in stolen property and eight convictions on state and federal charges. That same year, Digman helped Union County authorities in a capital-murder investigation, securing an arrest and conviction the next year.
Most of Digman’s career was spent inside the agency’s Criminal Investigations Division, where he helped local law-enforcement agencies with felony crimes, he said.
When Digman retired on Jan. 31, 2011, he was a lieutenant and served as an administrative assistant to the Criminal Investigations Division commander, he said.
On Sunday, State Police Director Col. Stan Witt had notified agency employees and retirees of Digman’s death, Sadler said.
According to Digman’s LinkedIn page, he began his law-enforcement career at the Walnut Ridge Police Department in January 1977. He worked there as a patrolman for four months before moving to the Springdale Police Department, his online resume states.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/06/2014