BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A Gravette man shot by police in January has pleaded not guilty to threatening to shoot officers who responded to a disturbance at his home.
Eulas Linwood Hughes, 40, faces seven counts of aggravated assault and four counts of first-degree terroristic threatening — all felonies.
Hughes was shot Jan. 20 after refusing to put down a rifle he aimed at an officer responding to a disturbance call at Hughes’ home on Second Avenue Southeast, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Benton County sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Sulphur Springs and Gravette police departments responded.
Police said they told Hughes to put down the weapon, but Hughes yelled four times that he would shoot police if they came any closer, according to the affidavit.
Police noted Hughes was slurring his speech and also said “don’t you surround me” before trying to go back inside the house with his wife and children.
The affidavit states that his wife and kids did not comply with orders to evacuate, and police shot Hughes as he tried to kick down a door to his house. Hughes was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith later ruled the shooting was justified under state law. Two Gravette officers had been placed on paid administrative leave while Arkansas State Police investigated the shooting.
Hughes was being held Wednesday (March 21) at the Benton County Jail on a $150,000 bond. His next hearing is set for May 7 in Benton County Circuit Court.
