DEADLY FORCE: Police Shooting Kills Woman

AUTHORITIES: OFFICER FIRED SERVICE WEAPON AFTER BEING APPROACHED WITH KNIFE

A Rogers Police investigator interviews witnesses Monday at the Superstop on Eighth Street and New Hope Road after a police officer was involved in a shooting there.
A Rogers Police investigator interviews witnesses Monday at the Superstop on Eighth Street and New Hope Road after a police officer was involved in a shooting there.

Editor's note

The Dec. 2, 2009 shooting was omitted from the original publication of this story and has since been added.

— A Rogers police officer shot and killed a woman authorities said attempted to attack officers responding to a 911 call Monday morning at a convenience store.

The officer fired his service weapon, a .40-caliber Glock, as the woman charged “at least one” officer with the knife, according to a news release from the Rogers Police Department. Officers were dispatched to the Shell Superstop, 1845 S. Eighth St., to a harassment call.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by the Benton County coroner. Her name was not released pending notification of next of kin.

The officers involved are on administrative leave, according to the news release.

An investigation is under way by Arkansas State Police, per department policy, said Wayne Schoch, public information officer for the Rogers Police Department.

“Any time we have an officer-involved shooting, the State Police get involved,” Schoch said.

Sgt. Kim Warren with the State Police Criminal Investigation Division referred all questions to Prosecuting Attorney Van Stone.

“As soon as the Arkansas State Police complete their investigation and interviews, we’ll be able to make a determination,” Stone said. “I’d anticipate that to be fairly quickly.”

Stone will determine if a shooting was justified based on the investigation, authorities said.

Witnesses from inside the store, along with the owner of the store, were told not to talk to anyone, the store owner said. Police took one woman, a witness who was preparing to talk to reporters, to the Police Department in a squad car. She later returned to the store.

Employees at Goodyear Northwest Tire Service, just across New Hope Road from the convenience store, said they did not hear shots, but had a strange encounter with a woman just before police cars started arriving across the street.

Joe Nowlin said he was talking to a customer when he saw a woman walking briskly into the parking lot and duck into a bay.

“I just thought it was an employee’s wife,” Nowlin said. “The guys said she walked into the men’s bathroom, walked out and walked across the street to the convenience store. She had this anguished look on her face — like she was worried or running from something.”

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Rogers Police Department investigators gather evidence outside the Shell Superstop located at South Eighth Street and New Hope Road after shooting involving an officer Monday morning.

Sandy Baldonado, who works in the bays of the tire shop, said he saw the woman come around a fence heading north.

“You could tell she was scared and she’d been running,” Baldonado said. “She went into the bathroom and then came right back out — like she’d made a wrong turn. “

She then walked out of the shop and across the street to the convenience store, Baldonado said.

“She just looked like a little girl, running from someone,” Baldonado said. “She never looked anyone in the eye the entire time she was in here.”

It could not be determined if the woman in the tire shop was the woman involved in the incident at Superstop.

David Zakrzewski of Coulson Oil Company in North Little Rock, the landlord of the Superstop building, said he knew little about what went on.

“From what I understand, there was no altercation with the clerk and the person involved,” Zakrzewski said. “It’s not like it was a robbery attempt, as far as I know. I really don’t know what the issue was.”

Zakrzewski said his company supplied the police with a videotape for review.

The last officer-involved shooting in Rogers was in October 2010.

At A Glance

Killed By Police

Fatal shootings in the past nine years involving Northwest Arkansas law enforcement include:

Feb. 17, 1999 — Several Fayetteville police officers shot and killed Vernon Don Whiteside Jr., a homeless man, at a makeshift shelter in the woods south of the Salvation Army.

Aug. 24, 1999 — An Arkansas State Police trooper and Madison County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Charles G. Nevels, 37, at his residence in southern Madison County.

September 2000 — Rogers police officers shot and killed Terry Moon, 31, at Best Motors on South Eighth Street in Rogers.

Dec. 28, 2002 — Rogers police officers shot and killed Ray H. Crow, 77, at his home at 1317 W. Forrest Drive in Rogers.

July 2003 — A Fayetteville police officer shot and killed Ralph “Steven” Burke, 55, during a standoff in the Mount Olive Community in eastern Washington County.

February 2004 — A Washington County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Victor Barron, 59, near the Wheeler community west of Fayetteville.

Jan. 19, 2005 — Three Fayetteville police officers shot and killed Benny Spears, 47, at his house in Fayetteville.

March 7, 2006 — An Arkansas State Police trooper shot and killed Erin Hamley, 21, along U.S. 412 near Tontitown.

Oct. 30, 2007 — A Fayetteville police officer shot and killed Taylor “Trent” Breeden, 25, inside a Fayetteville apartment. Breeden also shot himself at nearly the same instant the officer fired.

Dec. 3, 2008 — A Pea Ridge police officer shot and killed Ty H. Smith, 29, at his 511 McCulloch St. home.

June 26, 2009 — A Fayetteville police officer fires at Ricky Ray Anderson, 41, who was stabbing Jill Lynn Ulmer, 26, inside her apartment. Anderson isn’t hit, but one shot strikes Ulmer. Ulmer would have died from either the stabbing or the gunshot, the state medical examiner rules.

Oct. 1, 2009 — A Rogers police officer shot and killed Matthew Dague, 28, during a road stop at an apartment complex. Dague was the subject of a police search after firing a gun at another police officer. The officer stopped a vehicle Dague was in and Dague begin shooting at him. The officer returned fire. He was cleared and returned to work.

Dec. 2, 2009 — Fayetteville Police Detective David Williams, responding to a bank robbery call, shot and killed 29-year-old Matthew Anderson in the drive-through of an Arvest Bank branch at Wedington Drive and Garland Avenue as Anderson smashed his car into another occupied car in an attempt to get away. Washington County Prosecuting Attorney John Threet determined Williams' use of deadly force was justified.

Jan. 20, 2010 — A Bella Vista officer shot and killed James Patrick Ahern, 41, following a vehicle pursuit. The officer was fired and faces a manslaughter charge in Benton County Circuit Court.

Oct. 4, 2010 — A Rogers police officer shot and killed Tony Chambers, 54, at his home, 1007 S. 26th St. Officers responded to a report Chambers was threatening suicide. He raised a firearm at an officer who fired multiple shots at Chambers who died at Mercy Medical Center. The officer was cleared to return to duty.

Aug. 1, 2011 — A Rogers police officer shot and killed an unidentified woman at the Shell Superstop, 1845 S. Eighth St. The woman threatened officers with a knife before the shooting, police said. The incident is under investigation by Arkansas State Police.

Source: Staff Report

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