Photo: Alton Bruce Cooke, 2016 booking photo
A search continues in northwest Baxter County following a shooting incident early Wednesday morning. Around noon, the search was scaled back. Authorities are searching for 28-year-old Alton Bruce Cooke in the Promise Land area. Cooke is considered armed and dangerous. He is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 210 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.
The search centered in an area near County Road 502. It was in this area the suspect’s vehicle, a Black 2010 GMC Sierra truck, used in an assault Wednesday morning, was found wrecked in the woods. Tracking dogs from the North Central Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction were being used in an attempt to locate the suspect. A piece of clothing believed to have been worn by the suspect was also found near a residence in that area.
Sheriff John Montgomery says several leads and numerous interviews have been conducted by investigators, with a search warrant being executed on the suspect’s vehicle. The Arkansas Department of Community Corrections Absconder Team was contacted and members are now assisting in the search for Cooke.
The shooting incident happened in Midway about 5 Wednesday morning, according to Montgomery. He says the victim and her male passenger turned from State Highway 5 onto State Highway 178 when Cooke allegedly rammed their vehicle. A short distance later, Cooke allegedly rammed their vehicle again, causing their vehicle to wreck near the Midway post office. Montgomery says the suspect then allegedly fired multiple shots into the wrecked vehicle and fled the area.
Both victims were injured by the gunshots and were taken to Baxter Regional Medical Center where they were both treated and released. Their names have not been released.
Montgomery says indications are the female victim and Cooke had a past relationship.
Cooke is also a registered sex offender in Baxter County. He was convicted in 2013 of computer child pornography involving sexually explicit conversations via the internet with a 14-year-old female during which he discussed meeting her for sex.
A warrant of arrest has been issued for Cooke on charges of first-degree attempted murder (two counts); felon in possession of a firearm; unauthorized use of another person’s property to commit a crime; first-degree battery and aggravated assault (four counts).
Cooke’s bond has been set at $500,000.
Anyone with information about Cooke’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office at 870-425-7000 or call 911.
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