Arkansas State Police are investigating a shooting that took place Wednesday night inside the bathroom of a jail in Perry County, a rural township located 50 miles west of Little Rock.
An officer working at the detention center, 21-year-old Jeremiah Story, was killed during the incident, which occurred as a 37-year-old man was being booked on alleged drug charges following his arrest by county deputies, according to a report issued Thursday by ASP.
The suspect, identified as Roderick Lewis of Little Rock, is accused of shooting Story with a pistol while changing out of his own clothes and into attire issued by the jail at around 10:20 p.m., ASP said. An unnamed individual who witnessed the incident disarmed Lewis before he was transferred from the Perry County Jail to the nearby Faulkner County Detention Center.
The Perry County Sheriff’s Office called state law enforcement after the shooting, and special agents were then dispatched to the jail. A criminal division of ASP is leading an ongoing probe into the circumstances surrounding the detention officer’s killing. State police initially said the shooting was being investigated as an apparent homicide. The agency clarified later on Thursday that Perry County’s prosecuting attorney will determine appropriate charges after receiving a case file from investigators.
The incident in central Arkansas comes amid a devastating spate of mass shootings across the U.S. and subsequent push for federal lawmakers to pass comprehensive gun control legislation. The bipartisan bill advanced in Congress after a promising Senate vote this week.
