FORT SMITH -- A Fort Smith man who stopped a shooting rampage in May by killing the gunman won't face criminal charges, prosecutors said.
Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Shue announced his decision Wednesday in a letter to Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker. Shue said after reviewing the investigative reports surrounding the shooting, his office concluded Wallace A. West, 58, was justified under Arkansas law in the fatal shooting of Zachary Brian Arnold, 26.
West shot Arnold after Arnold killed Lois Hicks, 87, inside her residence at Three Corners Apartments at 3600 S. 74th St., according to police.
"Mr. West acted lawfully when he shot Mr. Arnold and likely saved a number of lives in the process," Shue wrote. "At last count, Mr. Arnold had fired 93 rounds from his semiautomatic rifle before Mr. West was able to stop him. There were no other fatalities or injuries, though a number of residents were home at the time of the assault."
The Fort Smith Police Department started receiving calls of a shooting at the apartment complex about 7:15 a.m. May 15, according to Shue. Arnold came out of his apartment firing a semiautomatic rifle while yelling at his neighbors to come outside, according to police.
Hicks came outside to check on Arnold, who chased her into her apartment and shot her multiple times.
West, identified in a Police Department news release Wednesday as an off-duty employee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, woke to the sound of gunshots, Shue wrote. He ran outside and saw Arnold shooting into Hicks' apartment.
West then grabbed a bolt action rifle, which was scoped and loaded, from his gun cabinet, stepped onto his balcony and fired once at Arnold, missing him because he was "shaking so badly," according to his witness statement.
Arnold turned and fired several rounds at West.
Arnold went back into his apartment, presumably to reload, and he came back outside, Shue wrote. He began walking down the complex, rifle in hand, according to West. West took a second shot, which struck Arnold in the head and killed him.
West waited by Arnold's body until police arrived.
Shue wrote he found it "objectively reasonable" that West felt it was necessary to employ deadly force in this situation to defend himself, his son and others.