Gunfire kills Sebastian County sheriff's deputy

Chief hurt; 34-year-old suspect held

A bullet hole is visible in the window of a police vehicle as officials investigate the scene where police say Billy Monroe Jones, 34, shot Sebastian County sheriff’s Deputy Bill Cooper and Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells early Wednesday south of Greenwood. Cooper died from his injuries; Spells was treated at a hospital and released.
A bullet hole is visible in the window of a police vehicle as officials investigate the scene where police say Billy Monroe Jones, 34, shot Sebastian County sheriff’s Deputy Bill Cooper and Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells early Wednesday south of Greenwood. Cooper died from his injuries; Spells was treated at a hospital and released.

HACKETT -- A Sebastian County sheriff's deputy was killed and the Hackett police chief was injured Wednesday morning when they were met by gunfire while responding to a disturbance call in the county.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

At a news conference later in the day, Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said deputies faced gunfire to get to Sebastian County sheriff’s Deputy Bill Cooper and Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells. A Greenwood police dog also was shot and was missing, Hollenbeck said.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Sebastian County deputy Bill Cooper was shot and killed in the line of duty Wednesday, August 10, 2016.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Law enforcement officials investigate the shooting scene Wednesday in Sebastian County where Sebastian County Deputy Bill Cooper was fatally shot and Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells was wounded while responding to a disturbance call. More than 200 officers from local, county, state and federal agencies converged on the area with a variety of equipment, including two armored vehicles from the Arkansas State Police.

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Billy Monroe Jones

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of the shootings in Sebastian County.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Police investigate the scene Wednesday where Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office deputy Bill Cooper and Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells were shot near the intersection of Arkansas 253 and Boon Road south of Greenwood.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Police Chief Darrell Spells of Hackett was injured in a shootout early Wednesday that left deputy Bill Cooper dead. Spells’ police car had multiple bullet holes. Billy Monroe Jones was arrested in connection with the incident near Greenwood.

Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said Bill Cooper, 65, a 15-year veteran with the sheriff's office, was fatally shot in the neck by a man wearing a ballistics vest and firing a rifle at 7:39 a.m. Cooper, an ex-Marine, died at 1:15 p.m. at Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith.

"Here is a perfect example of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid in order to keep our community safe," Hollenbeck said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells, age unavailable, was grazed in the temple by a bullet, Mayor Leroy Stephens said. He said Spells was released from Sparks Regional Medical Center after being treated.

Billy Monroe Jones, 34, is accused of shooting Cooper and Spells.

Jones was named in a Sebastian County Circuit Court warrant Wednesday morning charging him with two counts of first-degree battery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The warrant was issued before Cooper died and before Jones surrendered at a home at 4722 Arkansas 253 east of Hackett after a 4½-hour standoff with police.

Hollenbeck said Arkansas State Police took over processing the shooting scene after Jones' arrest "to relieve our agency to deal with the grief of losing one of our deputies."

Cooper's death comes during a summer marked with officers being killed in the line of duty in high-profile cases within the region and around the country. A sniper killed five officers July 7 in Dallas. A police captain was shot to death July 19 in Kansas City, Kan., and three police officers were gunned down July 16 in Baton Rouge.

A total of 40 officers in the United States have lost their lives violently in the line of duty this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit website dedicated to honoring law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty.

Cooper is the first Sebastian County sheriff's deputy to die in the line of duty since Terry Johnson was killed in traffic accident March 2, 2013.

The last law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in the state before Cooper was Johnson County sheriff's Auxiliary Deputy Sonny Allan Smith, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Smith was killed in May 2015 while investigating a burglary.

The Officer Down Memorial Page lists 284 Arkansas law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty going back to the 1860s.

Hollenbeck said Cooper and Spells responded to a call at 7 a.m. that Jones had gone to his father's home to take some tools and pulled a gun on him before leaving.

Cooper, Spells and officers with the Greenwood Police Department arrived on the scene nine minutes later and reported that Jones had a rifle and had pointed it at the officers while standing on the porch of a residence at 4722 Arkansas 253.

Officers began to seek cover and set up a perimeter as additional officers moved toward the location, Hollenbeck said.

At the same time, Hollenbeck said, information developed that Jones wanted to cause a "ruckus" because he was due Wednesday afternoon in circuit court in Fort Smith on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence.

Jones also was on the court docket for a plea to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to court records.

His attorney on that charge, Marvin Honeycutt of Van Buren, said Wednesday that he had no idea Jones intended to open fire on officers. He wouldn't comment on the plea deal Jones intended to make, saying there was no deal until the plea was accepted.

"It's moot at this point," Honeycutt said. "So as far as the system is concerned, he is still presumed innocent of the felon in possession of a firearms charge."

At 7:16 a.m., sheriff's deputies radioed to the dispatcher that Jones was firing at them and that the firing went on for several minutes. Hollenbeck did not say whether officers returned fire.

Cooper was shot at 7:39 a.m. as more officers arrived on the scene, and Spells was shot at 7:43 a.m., Hollenbeck said in a prepared statement.

All the windows were shot out of Spells' patrol car, Stephens said.

"It took other deputies braving the fire of Jones to get Chief Spells and Deputy Cooper extracted from the scene and on to EMS," Hollenbeck said.

More than 200 officers from local, county, state and federal agencies converged on the scene with a variety of equipment that included two large armored vehicles from the Arkansas State Police, Hollenbeck said. Drones and a robot were used to acquire intelligence on Jones, who was holed up in his mobile home.

Special Weapons and Tactics teams arrived from the Sebastian County sheriff's office, Arkansas State Police, Crawford County sheriff's office, and the Fort Smith and Van Buren police departments, Hollenbeck said.

The robot was sent in to determine whether Jones was still in the mobile home and to check reports that Jones had explosives in the home, Hollenbeck said. Jones shot at the robot and disabled it.

Jones also shot a Greenwood police dog during the standoff, Hollenbeck said. The wounded dog escaped as officers ran for cover. Officers were searching for the wounded dog Wednesday afternoon.

Attempts were made throughout the standoff to negotiate with Jones but he did not respond, Hollenbeck said.

Jones surrendered at 11:46 a.m., Hollenbeck said. He was being held in the Crawford County jail Wednesday night.

A search of the home revealed Jones had explosive materials, and bomb squads were deployed to clear the residence.

Hollenbeck told reporters during the news conference that Cooper loved his job and that Cooper could have retired but stayed on to serve and protect. He loved to work with the men and women in the sheriff's office and was close to the people in the Special Services Division, Hollenbeck said.

Cooper was married with three grown children and lived in the Greenwood area, according to the sheriff's office.

"He had community policing in his heart, and he was a perfect example of how we all want our law enforcement officers to be," Hollenbeck said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson extended condolences to Cooper's loved ones and the law enforcement community in a statement released Wednesday. He also acknowledged the injury Spells suffered.

According to a study on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website, 22 percent of the cases involving officers killed in the line of duty from 2010 to 2014 stemmed from domestic disturbance calls.

Hutchinson said Cooper's death and Spells' injury "tragically illustrates the dangers our law enforcement officers face each and every day to keep us safe."

District 75 state Rep. Charlotte V. Douglas, R-Alma, called the shooting a heinous crime of cowardice.

"I would just like to listen to law enforcement and let them tell me what is it we need to do to keep them safe," said Douglas, who attended Wednesday's news conference.

David Hudson, county judge of Sebastian County, also attended the news conference to show support for the sheriff and his staff.

"We're mindful of the loss to the wife and family, and our hearts go out to them and our prayers," Hudson said. "It's a sad day in Sebastian County."

Information for this article was contributed by Bill Bowden of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 08/11/2016

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