A 54-year-old man who was a most-wanted fugitive in Missouri and was involved in a shooting incident in Izard County Thursday in which he exchanged gunfire with law officers has been identified.Izard County Sheriff Jack Yancey said Friday Sherman Edward Shetler, who has listed a number of addresses in Missouri, including Lebanon and Dixon, was the person who barricaded himself in a residence on Whispering Pines Road near Oxford.
According to Yancey, Izard County deputies went to the residence in an attempt to arrest Shetler, who was wanted on rape and drug charges out of Missouri. When officers attempted to gain entrance into the residence, Shetler allegedly began firing at the deputies.A few moments later, Shetler allegedly opened a back door to the structure and fired at another officer. An Izard County deputy fired one shot in return, which authorities later learned struck Shetler in the shoulder.
The area around the home was then cordoned off until a SWAT team arrived. After that team was deployed, Shetler surrendered a short time later without further incident. Yancey says the general public was never in danger during the standoff and the area around the home was totally secured during the standoff.
Shetler was taken to White River Medical Center for treatment of his wound, then released into custody. Shetler faces local charges of eight counts of aggravated assault, one count of terroristic threatening and one count of possession of a firearm by certain persons, indicating he is a felon. Judge David Miller set Shetler’s bond at $1 million.
Shetler has been charged in a number of criminal cases in Missouri. At the time of the Izard County incident, he was facing charges of rape and sodomy in Pulaski County, Missouri, and drug-related charges in Lincoln County. There were active warrants for his arrest.
According to Kevin Hillman, Pulaski County Prosecutor, Shetler’s rape and sodomy charges stemmed from an incident in late September 2018. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department was notified of a 16-year-old female who had allegedly been sexually assaulted at a residence along State Highway 28 in Dixon.
An investigator went to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla, Missouri, and met initially with the victim’s mother. The mother said her live-in boyfriend, identified as Shetler, was allegedly responsible for the sexual assault on her teenage daughter.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a forensic interview was conducted with the victim after she left the hospital. She described the sexual activity she said had taken place at the family home between her and Shetler.
Missouri court records show Shetler has been in trouble of one sort or another in Dallas, Pulaski, Laclede, Lincoln and St. Charles counties. The court records indicate Shetler has spent at least one stint in the Missouri Department of Corrections. He was given a seven-year prison sentence in mid-October 1991 after pleading guilty to second-degree burglary in Pulaski County. At the time the burglary charge was filed against him, Shelter listed an address in Lebanon.
Shelter has also been charged with abuse of a child, theft, DWI, endangering the welfare of a minor and passing bad checks. At one point a protective order was issued to keep him away from a woman, and his extensive criminal record also shows a divorce in 2009. The protective order was issued for what records show to be adult abuse/stalking.
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