Drugs are to blame, according to family members of Kyle Riggs, the 33 year old Mountain Home man who died from wounds sustained during a shoot out with law enforcement early Sunday morning. The relative, who asked to remain anonymous, said Riggs was in a drug induced rage Saturday when he put a knife to a relative’s throat and stole his father’s truck and cell phone before breaking into a Bull Shoals residence before assaulting the homeowner and engaging in a gun fight with a Marion County Deputy and Bull Shoals Police Officer. The unidentified homeowner was said to have been transported to a Little Rock Hospital where he is being treated for his injuries.
The relative says Riggs had been depressed since his release from prison before Christmas of last year. Riggs received prison sentences in Arkansas and Missouri for a series of burglaries in Baxter, Ozark and Douglas Counties.
More than one relative of Riggs say he began calling and threatening them early Sunday morning, even speculating his intention was suicide by cop, when he began firing at law enforcement responding to the Bull Shoals residence.
Riggs family expressed regret that innocent people, particularly the hospitalized Bull Shoals resident and his wife, were hurt. We are all very, very sorry and apologize to them, he said.
The law enforcement officers, who have not been identified, were uninjured in the incident which is under investigation by the Arkansas State Police.
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