FORT SMITH -- A Sebastian County sheriff's office sniper was justified in fatally shooting a Hackett man May 8 as the man prepared to drive away from his house after a 2½-hour standoff during which he wounded three deputies, Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue ruled Wednesday.
The sniper, Deputy Jason Morse, and Hackett reserve police reserve officer Todd Johnson reasonably believed that Peter Gregory Boden, 48, was committing attempted capital murder, aggravated assault of a police officer and first-degree battery and that deadly force was necessary to stop him, Shue wrote in a statement.
"The shooting of Peter Gregory Boden was justified under Arkansas law and a result of deadly physical force being reasonably and justifiably applied," Shue concluded in his four-page statement.
Shue's statement also included a long narrative of the events of May 7 and May 8 at 1106 Sunny Hill Place in rural Hackett.
Johnson was alerted to a possible domestic argument at the address about 10 p.m. May 7, the statement read. Upon arrival, he met Boden's wife, Luz, who was upset. Johnson told her to go back inside and try to de-escalate the situation, but she said, "He'll kill me."
At that moment, Boden appeared with a shotgun, walked toward Johnson while cursing, and ordered him off the property. As Johnson was leaving, Boden began shooting toward him. Johnson pulled out his .45-caliber handgun and returned fire, according to Shue's statement.
Luz Boden drove away, and Johnson radioed for help as he was pinned down behind his vehicle until Boden moved away, allowing Johnson to drive away from the scene, the statement said.
"Even then, Officer Johnson continued to hear gunfire and that gunfire continued as the Sebastian County Sheriff's office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team began approaching the area," Shue wrote.
As the SWAT team began to move into position, Boden, from inside his home, shot and wounded Deputies Rusty Wilson, Sean Wallace and Ron Decker, Shue said in the statement. They were struck by shotgun pellets in the head, face, arms, shoulders and legs.
Boden was seen at times with a shotgun, a handgun and a can of beer during the standoff and randomly shot at the officers and screamed at them, Shue wrote. At one point, officers used an armored vehicle to evacuate four people from a neighboring home.
Boden left his home about 1 a.m. May 8 armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, a .357-caliber revolver and a .45-caliber handgun and got into his vehicle.
Shue wrote that no one could reasonably allow a person who had shot at officers for 2½ hours to be allowed to drive away armed.
A "command decision" was made to disable the vehicle, and Morse fired one round into the vehicle radiator, Shue wrote. Boden returned fire at Morse, and Deputy Lloyd Bates and Morse fired at Boden again, killing him.
An autopsy showed Boden died from a gunshot wound in the neck, Shue wrote. Boden's blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent. In Arkansas, a person with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated.
State Desk on 07/26/2018