The Arkansas State Police is investigating an officer involved shooting wherein an Ouachita County man was wounded by gunfire after allegedly raising a shotgun and aiming at sheriff’s deputies.
47-year-old John Wesley Williams was shot by an Ouachita County sheriff’s deputy following a domestic disturbance, state police say.
According to the State Police, at around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, two sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at 3450 State Highway 376 south of Camden. The deputies reportedly were searching a wooded area near the residence for Williams, who had fled the home where he lived with two other females, according to police.
State Police say that Williams reportedly fired the shotgun twice as the deputies moved closer. When Williams was located in thick underbrush, police say that the deputies ordered him to drop the gun. Williams ignored the command and pointed the gun at one of the deputies, who then fired his service weapon and hit Williams, according to police.
The state police say that Williams was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with a non-life threatening wound.
The Ouachita County Sheriff’s Department asked the State Police to conduct an investigation. Special agents of the state police’s criminal investigation division will prepare an investigative file which will then be submitted to the county’s prosecuting attorney’s office. Then, the office will decide whether the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer was consistent with state laws.