Woman shot by Arkansas officer faces jail trip

PINE BLUFF -- A woman who the Arkansas State Police said reportedly pointed a gun at a Pine Bluff police officer responding to a burglary call was shot Wednesday and suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

Trooper 1st Class Liz Chapman identified the woman shot as Vanna Johnson, 32. Johnson was taken to an area hospital and will be transferred to the Jefferson County jail in Pine Bluff after her treatment, Chapman said in a news release.

Special agents with the state police's criminal investigation division are investigating the shooting, which occurred about 2:45 p.m.

An officer whose name was not immediately released went to the apartment complex at 2920 S. Fir St. after being advised of a burglary. Upon the officer's arrival, an armed Johnson approached the officer in the complex's parking lot, Chapman said.

The officer was not injured.

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Chapman referred any questions relating to the identity or administrative status of the officer to the Pine Bluff department.

Chapman said authorities do not know whether Johnson was the burglary suspect.

No one at the Pine Bluff Police Department immediately returned a phone message seeking further information.

Chapman said in a text message that as far as the state police know, there was only the one Pine Bluff officer at the scene when the shooting took place Wednesday.

Upon completion of an investigation, state police special agents will submit an investigative file to the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney, Chapman said. The prosecutor will determine whether the officer's action was justified under state law, she added.

Last month, a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy who shot a man while responding to a domestic disturbance call also on Fir Street resigned. A news release at that time said the man's injuries also were not life-threatening.

The deputy, Cpl. Gerald Canada, had been accompanied at the scene by a Pine Bluff police officer. Canada gave no reason for his resignation.

State Desk on 05/25/2017

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