Arkansas sheriff's deputy shot dead responding to disturbance call, suspect arrested

(FOX NEWS) A Northwest Arkansas sheriff's deputy was fatally shot Wednesday morning and a local police chief was injured while responding to a disturbance call.

Sebastian County Deputy Bill Cooper, who had been shot in the neck, was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon at Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith. A visibily emotional Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck described Cooper, a 15-year veteran and former U.S. Marine, as "dynamic."

"He loved his job," Hollenbeck told a news conference. "He could've retired years ago. He loved this community so much he stayed on."

Hackett Chief of Police Darrell Spells earlier was treated and released from the hospital after being grazed in the forehead by a bullet.

Billy Monroe Jones, 34, was identified as the accused gunman and taken into custody shortly before noon, nearly five hours after the shooting at Jones' home east of Hackett, near the Oklahoma border

"We have limited information as to why this has happened," Hollenbeck said, adding that investigators are "looking into" the possibility that this was a planned attack.

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