PRESS RELEASE

DECEMBER 15, 2022

A Stuttgart police officer is dead and an Arkansas State Trooper has been wounded as law enforcement authorities attempted to arrest a Stone County man south of Stuttgart.

A vehicle pursuit by Stuttgart police officers that began about 11:00 p.m. Wednesday ended south of the city near Rieger Road when the suspect, identified as Jacob Cole Barnes, 31, of Mountain View abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot.

During the foot pursuit, Barnes is believed to have fired on two Stuttgart police officers, resulting in the death of Sergeant Donald Scoby, 45, who was in foot pursuit of the suspect.  Sergeant Scoby was a four-year veteran of the Stuttgart Police Department.

Barnes then entered a residence at 593 Rieger Road occupied by a woman who barricaded herself inside the home and subsequently was extricated safely by the Arkansas State Police SWAT team shortly before 7:00 a.m. today. Moments later, Barnes shot a state police SWAT team member who sustained a non-life threatening wound and is being treated at a Little Rock hospital. Barnes was fatally wounded during an exchange of gunfire with SWAT team members.

The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Stuttgart Officer Scoby.