A detention officer in central Arkansas was shot and killed by a man being booked into the jail, state police said Thursday.
Officer Jeremiah Story, a 21-year-old detention officer at the Perry County jail in Perryville, about 35 miles northwest of Little Rock, died at a hospital early Thursday, the State Police said in a news release.
A statement from Arkansas State Police said the suspect is a 37-year-old man who had been arrested by Perry County deputies and was being booked into the jail at the time of the shooting.
37-year-old Roderick Lewis shot Story in a bathroom late Wednesday night while Lewis was changing out of civilian clothes and into jail issued attire, said the State Police, which was asked to investigate by the county sheriff’s office. A State Police spokesman said Lewis used a gun he had with him when he entered the jail.
Lewis was charged with capital murder Thursday afternoon in Story’s death. It was not clear Thursday afternoon if Lewis has an attorney representing him.
Lewis, of North Little Rock, was arrested earlier Wednesday evening and was being detained on drug and drug paraphernalia charges.
A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center in Conway, police said.
The Perry County Sheriff’s Office called state law enforcement after the shooting, and special agents were then dispatched to the jail. A criminal division of ASP is leading an ongoing probe into the circumstances surrounding the detention officer’s killing. State police initially said the shooting was being investigated as an apparent homicide. The agency clarified later on Thursday that Perry County’s prosecuting attorney will determine appropriate charges after receiving a case file from investigators.
The incident in central Arkansas comes amid a devastating spate of mass shootings across the U.S. and subsequent push for federal lawmakers to pass comprehensive gun control legislation. The bipartisan bill advanced in Congress after a promising Senate vote this week.
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