Police: Arkansas man asks if couple acted rudely, then fatally shoots 35-year-old

Jeremy Palmer
Jeremy Palmer

A Fort Smith man is in custody after a fatal shooting at an apartment complex in the city early Tuesday.

Jeremy Delaxander Palmer, 25, was arrested at 9 a.m. by Fort Smith police on charges of first-degree murder, terroristic act and felon in possession of a firearm.

The shooting took place at 12:43 a.m., police said. The victim, Jason Thomas, 35, and his wife were said to be sitting in their car experiencing car trouble outside West Apartments at 4118 N. 50th St. A tenant of the complex noticed their troubles and offered assistance, but the couple declined help, police said.

Palmer, who is not a resident of the complex, was standing nearby during the encounter between the couple and the tenant, police said. He reportedly asked the tenant whether Thomas and his wife had acted rudely, to which the tenant responded that they had not.

According to police, Palmer then walked over to the vehicle, opened the driver's side door, and fired one round that struck Thomas in the face before running off. Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, and police recovered no shell casings.

"By witness statements, [Palmer] was kind of acting irrational, was acting odd," Fort Smith police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said.

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Palmer was arrested later Tuesday morning in ripped and muddy clothes on the grounds of another apartment complex, in the 5200 block of Johnson Street, authorities said. He was taken into custody without incident and was being held at the Sebastian County jail. No bail has been set.

Palmer, who was picked out of a lineup of six people, did not give a statement at the time of his arrest.

Sebastian County prosecutor Daniel Shue said in a statement Tuesday that he could not comment on any possible motive in the case.

Grubbs said that thus far, police have found "zero connection between the victim and the suspect."

Police were still searching Tuesday afternoon for the firearm used in the shooting and a backpack Palmer was said to have been carrying.

An arraignment is set for 8:30 a.m. today at the Sebastian County Courts Building in Fort Smith for Palmer, who also is charged as a habitual offender.

Metro on 03/01/2017

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