FORT SMITH -- A knife-wielding man fatally shot by police Saturday had been involuntarily committed five months earlier for treatment of mental problems, according to Sebastian County Circuit Court records.
Police shot Samuel Morris, 27, during a domestic disturbance involving weapons Saturday morning, according to a news release from the Police Department.
When officers arrived at an apartment complex on Johnson Street in northeast Fort Smith, Morris was threatening a person with a knife, the release said.
Police ordered Morris to drop the knife, but he continued to threaten the person until that person broke free. Morris still wouldn't relinquish the knife, and police ultimately shot him, the release said. Morris died at a hospital.
The Police Department has disclosed no other details of the shooting. The release said the officer who shot Morris has been placed on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation is completed.
Morris was ordered May 8 to be committed to Northwest Medical Center for up to 45 days for care and treatment after Circuit Judge Annie Powell Hendricks ruled he was of "such a mental condition as a result of mental illness, disease or disorder that [Morris] poses a clear and present danger to himself and others."
Court records showed Morris' mother, Marla Morris, wrote in a petition for commitment that over the previous six months her son, then 26, was very violent, threatened suicide, threatened to hurt and kill others, had mood swings, had depression, broke things at the house, fought with her and took street drugs. The petition said he was diagnosed with depression.
A Fort Smith police report dated May 6 said officers were called to 4000 N. Sixth St., where a subject was acting disorderly. When the officer arrived, he made contact with Marla Morris, who said her son was screaming and yelling at her and that she had asked him to leave but he wouldn't.
The police dispatcher confirmed there were two warrants for Samuel Morris' arrest for failure to appear in court and failure to pay fines, the police report said. The officer arrested Samuel Morris, drove him to the Sebastian County jail where he was booked and held until he was ordered committed to Northwest Medical Center.
Asked to comment on whether officers were aware Saturday that Morris had been committed for mental illness in May, police spokesman Aric Mitchell said it was inappropriate to comment while the investigation into the shooting was ongoing.
NW News on 10/16/2018