HOT SPRINGS -- An Arkansas State Police trooper was in stable condition Monday after being shot Sunday night during a traffic stop in Rockport in Hot Spring County, state police said in a news release.
Trooper Kyle Sheldon, who is assigned to the state police Troop K in Hot Springs, was transported to a Hot Springs hospital where he remained in stable condition Monday with a gunshot wound that wasn't believed to be life-threatening.
The shooting suspect, Elsbeth Tresa Kittinger, 49, of Fort Worth, also suffered a gunshot wound and was treated at a Hot Springs hospital before being released into custody.
Kittinger was being held without bail Monday in the Garland County jail.
The shooting occurred at 8:42 p.m. Sunday during a traffic stop on U.S. 270 near Interstate 30 in Rockport, according to state police. Kittinger fired at Sheldon after Kittinger was instructed to step outside the vehicle, state police said.
Officers with the Malvern Police Department were in the area after answering a call unrelated to the traffic stop and were parked near Sheldon's patrol vehicle when the shooting occurred. Both officers returned fire at the suspect, according to the state police release.
The officers fired a second time at the suspect as she fled in an older-model Dodge pickup onto Doyle Jones Road about 5 miles from the traffic stop and the scene of the initial shooting before Kittinger was taken into custody, the release said.
The shooting remains under investigation. The case file was to be given to the Hot Spring County prosecuting attorney Monday before formal charges are filed, police said.
According to court records, Kittinger was previously arrested Dec. 23, 2017, in Belton, Texas, about 60 miles north of Austin, on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance. She was later released on $15,000 bond, and her case is pending.
State Desk on 04/03/2018