A woman shot by law enforcement after she wounded a police K-9 and and opened fire toward officers on Tuesday died from her injuries, authorities said on Wednesday.
Brenda Thomas, 56, of Jonesboro, was suspected of shooting 41-year-old Dennis Mardis at the Gladiola Manor Apartments in Jonesboro, the city's Police Department said in a statement.
Mardis, a maintenance employee at the complex in the 600 block of Gladiolus Drive, was checking on Thomas' wellbeing when he was shot, police said, noting Thomas had not been heard from for some time.
Mardis was airlifted to a Memphis trauma hospital after being shot multiple times. He has since been discharged, a hospital employee said.
Negotiators responded to the scene, but were unsuccessful in attempts to communicate with Thomas or get her to leave the residence.
Thomas later took measures to counter tear gas and pepper spray that authorities deployed to attempt to get Thomas to surrender, the statement said.
Authorities said they then sent a K-9 officer, Gabo, into the residence, but Thomas shot the dog. She then shot at officers who also tried to enter the apartment, and they returned fire, striking her, police wrote.
Thomas was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
No other officers were injured in the standoff, police said. According to a previous release, Gabo was in “good spirits” after the standoff and was being treated by a local veterinarian for a gunshot wound. The dog was in stable condition as of Tuesday night.
The Arkansas State Police will conduct an investigation into the shooting and standoff at the request of the Jonesboro Police Department, authorities said.
CORRECTION: Due to incorrect information in a police news release, an earlier version of this story misstated Brenda Thomas' name.
Reporter Stephen Simpson contributed to this story.