A shooting early Saturday in Saline County left five people injured and led to a seven-hour rest-area standoff with the suspected gunman, authorities reported Saturday afternoon.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies in central Arkansas helped, initially, in the search for the suspect and then in the ensuing standoff.
About 1 a.m., Saline County deputies were dispatched to the 6500 block of East Sardis Road in Hensley, where five people had been shot, according to a news release.
About 3 a.m., investigators publicly identified John Grable as a suspect in the case.
Saline County sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Joe Traylor said Grable, who is in his mid-40s, lives in southwest Little Rock.
About 3 a.m., deputies notified the Pulaski County sheriff's office that they were searching for Grable and asked for help scouring the west side of Lake Maumelle, which is in Pulaski County, according to Pulaski County sheriff's office Lt. Cody Burk.
Shortly after 3 a.m., Arkansas State Police troopers, who had joined the search, located Grable in a vehicle parked in a small rest area off Arkansas 10 near Duffy Road, Pulaski County sheriff's office spokesman Mitch McCoy said.
Grable refused to leave the vehicle, and the Pulaski County SWAT team's crisis negotiations unit was called in to help, McCoy said.
For the next seven hours, deputies and troopers blocked off all lanes of Arkansas 10 in the stretch surrounding Grable's vehicle as negotiators worked to get Grable to surrender, McCoy said.
Most of the negotiation, McCoy said, was done through a phone.
A deputy stationed on Arkansas 10 turned away all vehicles in the area, telling each driver the same thing: "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is you're going to have a great day. The bad news is the road is closed."
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officials worked to keep anglers participating in the fourth Fall Series Tournament with the Lake Maumelle Bass League from straying too close to the standoff, Burk said.
Finally, after more than seven hours, Grable surrendered to deputies without further incident, McCoy said.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation said Arkansas 10 reopened at noon Saturday.
Traylor said the shooting victims were all adults and that four of the five were in "serious but stable" condition in a hospital as of Saturday afternoon.
The other victim had been released from the hospital by Saturday evening, according to reports.
A statement from the Saline County sheriff's office said the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute.
It provided no details.
Traylor said Saturday afternoon that Grable had been charged with five counts of criminal attempt to commit capital murder and had been transported to the Saline County jail.
Investigators were still processing the scene on East Sardis Road and at Grable's vehicle Saturday evening, Traylor said.
Metro on 12/01/2019