HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) – Authorities are trying to determine what charges should be filed in the shooting of a Hot Springs police officer who was killed during a traffic stop earlier this week.Officer Brent Scrimshire died Tuesday from gunshots that struck him while on a traffic stop around 6:30 p.m. in Hot Springs, where the suspect was also shot.Police have not yet identified the suspect or said whether that person was jailed or hospitalized.
Arkansas State Police are investigating the shooting, Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence said Wednesday.
“We are assisting the state police in their investigation,” Lawrence told The Sentinel-Record. “We’re still reviewing evidence in the case and investigating to determine what charges will be filed.”
Meanwhile, Scrimshire’s community is mourning.
“Right now our two priorities are taking care of our employees and making sure we provide support and assistance to them during this period of mourning, and the other is to take care of Officer Scrimshire’s family,” Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey said Wednesday at the police department.
People will remember him as “a devoted, professional law enforcement officer who loved his community, loved his family, and always had something nice to say. He was very optimistic and enjoyed life,” Stachey said.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday ordered the Arkansas and U.S. flags to fly at half-staff in Scrimshire’s memory.
“Officer Scrimshire was selfless and brave in serving Hot Springs,” Hutchinson said in a statement released Wednesday. “I was saddened to learn of his death. I offer my condolences to his family and his fellow officers in the Hot Springs Police Department.”
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