Slain Arkansas officer remembered for devotion to community

Photo: An honor guard takes the casket bearing Hot Springs Police Officer 1st Class Brent Scrimshire into the Hot Springs Convention Center on Monday in Hot Springs. Kayvon Ward was charged with capital murder with a felony firearm enhancement for the fatal shooting of Scrimshire. (Grace Brown/The Sentinel-Record via AP)

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) – Family, friends and colleagues of an Arkansas police officer who was gunned down in the line of duty last week remembered him as a devoted family man who loved the community he served.A funeral service was held Monday for Hot Springs Police Officer 1st Class Brent Scrimshire. He was fatally shot during a March 10 traffic stop in which the man accused of shooting him was also wounded.Arkansas’ attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, said she met Scrimshire in 2016 when recognizing him as the Southwest Region Officer of the Year.

“Today our hearts are heavy as we lay to rest an incredible young man, and honor Officer Brent Scrimshire and the ultimate sacrifice he made for his community. But we must also remember Brent the person, and the sacrifices he made every day to be the best husband, the best father, son, brother, uncle and friend he could be,” Rutledge said during the service.

Hot Springs’ police chief, Jason Stachey, said Scrimshire’s “enthusiasm and devotion” for his family and friends was “legendary.”

“The connections he forged with the people he loved and the people he served wasn’t due to some nice guy character trait; it was simply ingrained in his DNA,” Stachey said.

Brent joined the police department in 2012 and received several awards over the years.

Two people, 21-year-old Kayvon Ward and 20-year-old Coriama Hernandez, have been charged in the Scrimshire’s death. Prosecutors allege that Ward shot Scrimshire while running from the car after he had been pulled over for not stopping at a stop sign. They are seeking the death penalty for both defendants.

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