A Bryant police officer was in stable condition Tuesday after she was shot while responding to a report of a suicidal person Monday evening, a spokesman said.
Officer Samantha Hodgson was seriously injured Monday evening after Austin Chase Swindle, 24, fired a shotgun through the door of an apartment at 1200 Whirlwind St. in Bryant, according to a news release from the Arkansas State Police. Swindle was later fatally shot after pointing the weapon at officers, the release said.
Hodgson and two other officers responded to a report of a suicidal person around 8:30 p.m. Monday at The Greens at Hurricane Creek apartment complex, department spokesman Sgt. Todd Crowson said. Swindle was alone in the apartment at the time of the shooting.
A family member had called police and requested a wellness check, according to the news release.
Swindle fired a "shotgun blast" through a door and struck Hodgson, who was airlifted to UAMS Medical Center for treatment, according to the news release.
Swindle left the apartment while armed with the shotgun, the news release said. Crowson said the two officers who responded with Hodgson called for backup, bringing a deluge of officers to the area.
Officers confronted Swindle outside of the complex and ordered him to drop the weapon, according to the release and previous reports. Instead, Swindle aimed the gun at one of the officers, and Sgt. David Miller fatally shot him.
Crowson said he wasn't sure exactly how much time elapsed between the initial call and Swindle's death, but that the whole incident happened "rather quickly."
Per department policy, Miller was immediately placed on administrative leave until the conclusion of the investigation to determine whether Swindle's death was a justified shooting.
Crowson said officers of the Benton Police Department, Saline County sheriff's office and Arkansas State Police responded -- alongside medical responders -- to aid Bryant officers.
"We can't thank them enough," Crowson said.
State police will investigate the shooting, and the Saline County prosecuting attorney will determine whether it was justified.
Hodgson, who joined the department in October 2018 after working for the Pulaski County sheriff's office and the Little Rock Police Department earlier in her career, was undergoing surgery on Christmas Eve, Crowson said.
Miller, who was the shift supervisor for Hodgson's patrol division Monday evening, joined the department in February 2004.
Crowson said an after-crisis team will speak with all of the officers who responded to the shooting and that the city has a counseling program in place for officers who request it.
"They go over everything with them," Crowson said. "They come in and have a sit-down session and basically just talk about what happened."
Information for this report was provided by Gavin Lesnick of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 12/25/2019