Lawmen on hunt after trailer gunfire

U.S. Marshals Service officials were still searching Saturday evening for a man who shot at six service officers Friday night in Faulkner County while they were looking for a convicted sex offender who had two warrants for his arrest, police said.

Officers were looking for Jesse Herring, 25, whom they had heard would be at a trailer near Vilonia on Stanley Road, said Kevin Sanders, supervisor for the District of Eastern Arkansas fugitive squad.

All six officers entered the trailer, where they found no one, Sanders said. They then heard three gunshots from outside, and a bullet pierced the trailer wall. The officers were able to duck for cover, he said.

They then spotted a man running into the woods possibly carrying a rifle, Sanders said. They called for backup from the Arkansas State Police, Faulkner County Special Weapons and Tactics squad and other agencies, but officers were unable to find the man who had fired the shots.

"By that time, he was pretty much long gone," Sanders said.

"It was out in the middle of nowhere," he added. "It was a heavily wooded area. It had probably a 200-yard gravel driveway all the way to the residence."

Sanders said officers believe another man was with the gunman.

"We don't know who actually fired at us," he said. "We don't know if it was the fugitive we were looking for."

The state police provided personnel and equipment in the search Friday night, spokesman Bill Sadler said.

Sanders said officers chased Herring earlier in the day as he drove a stolen vehicle. They lost track of him after he fled onto some back roads, Sanders said. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in North Little Rock.

"Obviously, he dumped that vehicle, had somebody pick him up, I'm told," Sanders said, adding that police believed Herring had been dropped off at the Stanley Road trailer.

Herring has active warrants for his arrest, he said. He's accused of violating parole and failing to register as a sex offender, Sanders said.

Pulaski County Circuit Court records show that a Jesse Logan Herring pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in 2013. Herring also pleaded guilty in 2013 to residential burglary, two counts of breaking or entering, and three counts of theft by receiving, records show.

Metro on 09/21/2014

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