A multiagency manhunt for an attempted murder suspect in north Arkansas ended Thursday when authorities found him dead in a house in Gassville, authorities said.
Baxter County sheriff's deputies and Gassville police officers found the body of Alton Bruce Cooke, 28, inside a home at 501 Kirkland St. on Thursday afternoon, Sheriff John Montgomery said in a media release. Cooke's gunshot wound in his head appeared to be self-inflicted, Montgomery said.
Deputies began searching for Cooke after a 5 a.m. shooting Wednesday on Arkansas 178 near Midway, according to previous releases. A female driver at the scene told police Cooke had rammed her vehicle twice, causing her to crash, before he fired multiple shots into her car, injuring her and a passenger.
Both people in the vehicle were hospitalized and later released, Montgomery said. Investigators believe Cooke and the driver had a previous relationship.
A warrant for Cooke's arrest on charges of first-degree battery, two charges of attempted first-degree murder, four counts of aggravated assault, a charge of felon in possession of a firearm and a charge of unauthorized use of another person's property to commit a crime was issued Wednesday evening.
Officers from the Mountain Home, Gassville and Flippin police departments, and investigators with the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections absconder unit, U.S. Marshals Service and the Arkansas Department of Corrections Tracking Dog Unit joined the Baxter County deputies in the search.
Investigators went to the Kirkland Street home at approximately 1:30 p.m., where two people at the house told investigators Cooke was inside with a handgun, Montgomery said.
Officers evacuated the nearby homes, surrounded the house and attempted to contact Cooke for several hours before deploying tear gas in the house at approximately 5:30 p.m., Montgomery said. A special response team from the Mountain Home Police Department then entered the home and found Cooke's body.
Cooke's body will be sent to the State Crime Laboratory for autopsy, and Montgomery said the investigation is ongoing since anyone who helped Cooke may still be charged.
Metro on 11/01/2019