Officer-Involved Fatal Shooting Being Investigated In Arkansas

Authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left a suspect dead on Friday afternoon in Malvern, Arkansas. The incident began around 2:45 p.m. when Arkansas State Police (ASP) responded to a report of a shooting near the Hot Spring County Courthouse.

According to a press release, troopers tracked the suspect, wanted in connection with the earlier shooting, driving a 2016 GMC Acadia on Moline Street. When officers tried to pull him over, the suspect sped off and led police on a high-speed chase. The pursuit continued south on Martin Luther King Boulevard, for about two miles before the suspect veered through a Walgreens parking lot and onto West Page Avenue.

The chase ended at the intersection of West Page and Vine Street, where a Trooper performed a tactical vehicle intervention. The suspect’s SUV crashed into a utility pole. Armed with an AR-style rifle, the suspect opened fire on law enforcement. Officers from ASP and the Malvern Police Department returned fire, hitting the suspect.

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The suspect was taken to a hospital in Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead. His body has been sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for further examination.

The earlier shooting victim, injured at a business near Locust Street and West Page Avenue, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital.

The ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division is preparing a case file to be reviewed by the prosecuting attorney, who will decide if the use of deadly force was legally justified under Arkansas law.