SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Washington County Sheriff's Office (WSCO) is investigating after Springdale Police responded to a shooting involving an officer near Murphy Park at around 6 p.m. on Feb. 15.
Officers with the Springdale Police Department (SPD) say they received a disturbance call describing a male, later identified as Ethan Brasel, who was causing a disturbance and refusing to exit the caller's car. According to police, the caller stated that Brasel had a pistol in his front waistband and that there was another gun in the car.
SPD officers arrived on the scene, found Brasel sitting in the front of a vehicle, and ordered him out of the car, according to a statement by SPD Capt. Jeff Taylor.
The release states that the suspect allegedly ran from officers after one of them began to search him for weapons. As the officers chased Brasel, one of them yelled that he had a gun and ordered him to drop his weapon. One of the officers then shot his firearm at Brasel but did not hit him. Officers continued to chase the Brasel and eventually located and arrested him in a nearby yard.
SPD says both the suspect and one of the officers were injured as a result of the chase.
Police have not stated if the suspect fired his weapon or not, but they do confirm that he was sent to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. Brasel was later transported to the Washington County jail for processing.
Capt. Taylor said after the shooting, “We’re going to look at trying to protect life, whether it be our own lives or people in the area. We have to make sure everybody is safe, so we tried to talk to him and tried to de-escalate the situation, but we’re going to respond to resistance.”
Capt. Taylor further stated, “If somebody’s running from us and they’ve got a weapon, we’re going to chase them. Whether it’s around homes or not.”
According to the release, WSCO is investigating the "use of deadly force by the officers."
One officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard protocol according to Capt. Taylor.
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