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Body Cam Footage Shows Conditions Officers Faced The Day Cpl. Bill Cooper Was Killed

SEBASTIAN COUNTY (KFSM) — At least 64 law enforcement officers were shot and killed in the line of duty last year across the nation. Sebastian County Deputy Bil...

SEBASTIAN COUNTY (KFSM) — At least 64 law enforcement officers were shot and killed in the line of duty last year across the nation. Sebastian County Deputy Bill Cooper made that list on Aug. 10, 2016.

For the first time we are seeing what deputies were up against that day.

Above you can watch some of the body cam video Greenwood police wore during the shooting. We do want to warn you some of it is hard to watch and hear, but these are the real conditions law enforcement faced.

Responding to 911 calls is Greenwood Police Officer Mason Redding's job, but this hot summer day would be different. The suspect started firing at him within minutes of arriving at the home on Highway 253.

"I know a few rounds hit by my feet," Redding said. "I don't know how many times he shot at me."

Two Sebastian County Deputies and Cpl. Dennis Wisner arrived first. Billy Jones comes out of the trailer, standing on the front porch. Police said he was holding a rifle then he goes inside.

"We never saw him pull the trigger," Cpl. Wisner said. "He was inside the trailer the whole time."

After firing at Officer Redding, bullets strike Wisner's patrol car.

"The first round entered my front windshield and exited about an inch above my head," Wisner said. "I knew instantly he was trying to shoot me."

Then his K-9 Kina bolts out the backdoor. What her handler didn't know at the time is that she had been shot twice.

"As soon as she was shot, she lost all touch with reality," Cpl. Wisner explained. "She went into survival mode. She was afraid of everything. She was just trying to find a place to hide."

Officers wouldn't find Kina until two days later, alive but hurt. Not everyone's fate would have the same outcome.

A single gunshot is fired. "Officer down" is heard over the radio and Cpl. Cooper was hit. A few more minutes pass by and a bullet grazes Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells in the head.

"Chief Spells was pulled out almost instantly," Wisner said.

It took more time to get Cooper out because he was so close to where Jones was shooting. Cooper was officially pronounced dead hours later in the hospital.

"It wasn't until after I had already been extracted I realized it was a fatal shot," Cpl. Wisner said.

The normally quiet, rural area looked more like a war zone that day.

"After it was all over, we went in and looked at my car and it looked like it had been in Iraq," Cpl. Wisner said.

The Fort Smith SWAT team arrives and Wisner and Redding were brought to safety. The gunman eventually surrendered.

Both officers said prayer got them through the moments when they didn't know what would happen next.

"My mom had passed away going on 10 years ago, and whenever I started praying, I told myself it's gonna be a good day," Redding said. "I either make it out of this, or I get to see my mother again."

Wisner added, "I was gonna walk my daughters down the aisle. I was going to see my wife again. I was going to live and you have to believe that, you have to."

Jones pleaded guilty to killing Cpl. Cooper in November 2016. He also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted capital murder for firing at other officers. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

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