A Stuttgart police officer was killed Wednesday night, and an Arkansas State Trooper was wounded this morning, when law enforcement authorities attempted to arrest a Stone County man south of Stuttgart, according to a press release from the state Department of Public Safety.
Stuttgart police officers began pursuing a vehicle at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. They said that pursuit ended south of the city near Rieger Road when the suspect, identified as Jacob Cole Barnes, 31, of Mountain View, abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot.
“During the foot pursuit, Barnes is believed to have fired on two Stuttgart police officers, resulting in the death of Sergeant Donald Scoby, 45, who was in foot pursuit of the suspect,” the release stated. Scoby was a four-year veteran of the Stuttgart Police Department.
Barnes then entered a residence at 593 Rieger Road occupied by a woman who barricaded herself inside the home, police said. She was reportedly safely removed from the house by the Arkansas State Police SWAT team shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday.
“Moments later, Barnes shot a state police SWAT team member who sustained a non-life threatening wound and is being treated at a Little Rock hospital,” stated the release.
Police said Barnes was fatally wounded during an exchange of gunfire with the SWAT team.
The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation into the shooting incident that resulted in Scoby’s death.