A suspect in a North Little Rock shooting is dead after shooting himself during a traffic stop near the Buffalo National River in Searcy County. Forty-year-old Damon Scott Casey was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by two National Park Rangers shortly after noon on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Buffalo National River says the park rangers stopped the car driven by a female, whose identity has not been released, near Tyler Bend for traffic violations. Both Casey and the female driver gave park rangers identification and it was determined Casey had warrants from another jurisdiction, along with a lengthy criminal history involving firearms, drugs, assault and domestic violence.
When rangers asked the two to exit the vehicle, Casey refused and acted in a manner causing officers to believe the female might be in danger. Casey then pulled out a handgun, shot himself in the head and died at the scene. No one else at the scene was injured.
Authorities later identified the two in the car as persons of interest in the shooting of man in North Little Rock earlier Tuesday morning. The victim from that shooting was hospitalized according to information from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
Casey’s body has been sent to the state crime lab for an autopsy.
The investigation into the shooting in Searcy County is being conducted by the Arkansas State Police, with assistance from Special agents of the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch, Searcy County Sheriff’s Office, Marshall Police Department and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
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