FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—A police officer was ”ambushed and executed” by a gunman as he sat in his patrol vehicle parked outside his police station in northwestern Arkansas, police said Sunday.
Fayetteville police said in a news release that Officer Stephen Carr was shot and killed late Saturday by a suspect identified as 35-year-old London Phillips, of Fayetteville.
Gun shots were heard behind the police department at about 9:42 p.m. Saturday, police said. When officers responded, they heard additional gunshots, then found an armed suspect behind the police department. They said the suspect had a confrontation with the officers, who shot and killed him. Officers then found Carr shot inside his patrol vehicle.
Carr was hired by the Fayetteville Police Department in April 2017 and was assigned as a patrol officer in the Dickson Street entertainment district. Police called him a “hero,” and said he served with dedication and professionalism for 2 1/2 years.
Police Chief Mike Reynolds said during a news conference that officers chased the suspect into an alley between the police department and city prosecutor’s office. The officers then shot and killed the suspect.
Reynolds said the officer had been waiting for his partner in the parking lot when the shooting happened. He said he didn’t know the shooter’s motivation.
“It appears the suspect came into the back parking lot and just executed my officer,” Reynolds said.
Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene, but the officer and suspected shooter died of their injuries.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were to work the crime scene, Reynolds said.
The gunfire sparked a scare at the nearby city square, where a crowd was taking in the Lights of the Ozarks installation, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Police say there’s no threat to the public.
The fatal Arkansas shooting followed the shooting death of a Houston police officer Saturday night.
