Crawford County prosecutor Marc McCune on Tuesday identified a man who was shot during a confrontation with an Arkansas State Police trooper Monday.
Gil Antonio Rameriz-Lemus, 45, was shot three times during the altercation, which occurred about 6:20 a.m. Monday on Interstate 49 north of Mountainburg. He remained in stable condition Tuesday at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith.
State police reported that the trooper found Rameriz-Lemus walking on the southbound shoulder of the interstate. When the trooper approached Rameriz-Lemus, he purportedly fled and threatened the trooper with large rocks. McCune said in a news release that the trooper shot Rameriz-Lemus with a stun gun to no effect, and then used a firearm to shoot him twice in the stomach and once in the leg.
As of Tuesday, state police hadn't revealed the identity of the trooper, who is assigned to Troop H in Fort Smith. State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the trooper was being interviewed Tuesday as part of the agency's ongoing investigation of the shooting. The trooper was on paid administrative leave, in accordance with department policy.
McCune said Rameriz-Lemus had been suspected of leading Lowell police on a chase in a stolen vehicle Sunday night.
The driver of that vehicle eluded officers, according to McCune, and the vehicle was found about midnight abandoned on I-49 at the 34-mile marker. That's about 2 miles from where the trooper encountered Rameriz-Lemus on Monday.
Rameriz-Lemus lives in Springdale and is not an American citizen, McCune said. He has reportedly been deported at least once.
No charges had been filed in the case by late Tuesday.
"I am expecting all the reports, witness statements, and police car video by the end of the week and will review the investigation as to any wrongdoing by both the trooper and Rameriz-Lemus," McCune said.
Metro on 06/10/2015