CONWAY, Ark. — Police in Conway fatally shot a man after he fired at officers from inside a business at a shopping mall Saturday morning.
The Conway Police Department said on Facebook that officers responded to a report about a man who had driven a vehicle into a massage therapy business at the Lewis Crossing Shopping Center. A SWAT team found an armed man who barricaded himself in a room. While Conway police officers were talking to the man, he shot at them and officers returned fire, striking him.
No officers were injured.
Officer Shad Foley, a spokesperson for the Conway Police Department, said the man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from the injuries.
Foley could not confirm why the man crashed his vehicle into the Massage Envy storefront or whether police would file charges against him.
“The investigation is still completely fresh and underway,” Foley said.
Nearby businesses were cleared of customers and employees during the standoff. Bystander video showed the SWAT team with guns drawn forcibly entering a restaurant next to the massage business. Glass windows at the front of both businesses were shattered.
Some responders to the police department’s Facebook post said they were locked down in nearby stores.
Foley said the wing of the shopping center remains closed while Arkansas State Police investigate the shooting, as is standard in Arkansas when police shoot someone. Cindy Murphy, a spokesperson for the state police, said investigators would present their findings to local prosecutors, who would decide whether officers had violated any laws.
The Conway Police Department said some officers involved in the incident were "placed on administrative leave pending the investigation."
This is an ongoing investigation. We will update this story with more information as soon as it becomes available.
THV11 contributed to this report.