Arkansas State Police investigators are trying to figure out how a man whom officers searched, handcuffed and placed in the back of a Lonoke County sheriff's patrol car managed to get a pistol and fire at officers Tuesday night in Cabot.
Jonathan McIntosh, 35, was killed when officers returned fire, hitting him multiple times.
"That's the big question right now," said Dina Tyler, Arkansas Department of Community Correction's deputy director. "Where did he get the gun? Did we miss it in the search? It's a possibility."
Officers from the Lonoke County sheriff's office and the Community Correction Department were looking for a man in an unrelated case at a house on Main Street in Cabot about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Tyler said officers did not find the man there but did find McIntosh, who told officers he was on parole.
A state police news release said authorities placed McIntosh in custody after determining he was wanted on outstanding warrants.
Tyler said McIntosh had been in and out of prison for drugs, theft and weapons charges since 2002. He was released from prison in September, and since then he had been passing his drug tests, working and showing up for his checks, Tyler said. He was to be released from parole July 2.
After searching McIntosh, officers found a bag filled with a white, powdery substance that turned out to be crystal methamphetamine, Tyler said. Officers then handcuffed McIntosh and put him in the back of the deputy's car and returned to searching the house, Tyler said.
When two of the officers returned to the car to question McIntosh, they opened the door to find McIntosh still cuffed, but now with his hands in front of him and holding a pistol, and he began firing at the officers, Tyler said.
The officers dropped to the ground, and two Community Correction Department officers and one officer from the Lonoke County sheriff's office returned fire, hitting McIntosh multiple times, Tyler said. She did not know how many shots were fired in total.
Tyler said one of the Community Correction Department officers, who is also a medic, provided lifesaving measures until an ambulance arrived to take McIntosh to an area hospital, where he died.
None of the officers were injured in the shooting.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler declined to elaborate Wednesday, citing an ongoing investigation.
The gun was not a law enforcement-type pistol, Tyler said.
"It seems unlikely we would have found a small bag of powered drugs but missed a gun," Tyler said. "But, again, anything is possible."
Tyler said investigators are looking the possibility that someone dropped the gun into the open window of the patrol car. Tyler said there's also a slim possibility that the gun was on the floorboard from another arrest.
The officers involved in the shooting -- who have not been named -- will remain on administrative leave until it can be determined whether the shooting was justified, Tyler said.
When the state police investigation is complete, it will be turned over to Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham.
State Desk on 05/21/2015