An alert Grady police officer on Saturday may have prevented further bloodshed at an event in nearby Dumas where one person was killed and 27 wounded in a mass shooting.
Following a high-speed chase on U.S. Highway 65, which resulted in the head-on crash with a state police car, Grady Patrolman J.W. West, assisted by Grady Officer Phillip Gordon, Gould Officer Erika Officer Arnold, and State Trooper Darryle Hinton, arrested a man armed with a semiautomatic weapon who said he was heading to the Hood-Nic event in Dumas.
A report by West said he clocked the vehicle at 89 mph in a 65 mph zone traveling south on U.S. Highway 65 at approximately 5:53 p.m.
"I attempted to stop the vehicle but it sped away," said West in his report. "The subject went from 89 mph to over 120 mph and refused to stop. I notified Lincoln County S.O. the subject was southbound toward Gould and refused to stop. As we approached Gould, two Gould officers, Erika Arnold and Robert Spencer and another Grady Officer, Phillip Gordon, attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver went around the vehicles and kept traveling south toward Dumas. Approximately 2 miles north of Dumas the suspect or suspects threw something out the window onto Hwy 65 which bounced away and was never recovered. As we approached the city of Dumas the driver hit his brakes and turned around headed back north and hit Arkansas State Trooper Darryle Hinton's vehicle head on. The driver, Jvoriee Jashun Howard, 27, of Little Rock, jumped out and fled on foot. I took two 17 yrs old female juveniles into custody from the vehicle while Officer Arnold, Gordon, and Hinton chased and took into Howard custody. Trooper Hinton was later transported to the E.R. for injuries which was later reported as minor injuries. The Trooper's car appeared to be totaled. Upon a vehicle search we located a white backpack with a 9mm handgun with a silencer and one box of bullets. Mr. Howard was transported to Lincoln County jail and is currently being charged with possession of a firearm by certain person, a felony, fleeing an officer, a felony, two counts of endangering welfare of an minor, battery 2nd, a felony, prohibited weapon (silencer) and speeding."
Grady Police Chief Kenny Hunter added that Howard, who is a convicted felon, said he was heading to the Hood-Nic.
The shooting in Dumas is still being investigated by the state police and the Dumas Police Department.
The chaos started when two people got into a gunfight during a car show that's part of an annual community event Dumas.
Cameron Shaffer, 23, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, was killed.
Among the wounded are five children ranging in age from 19-months to 11 years old.
Six people under the age of 18 who were wounded by gunfire were taken to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, according to a spokeswoman. Most had been released as of Sunday afternoon.
Grady officer Phillip Gordon, who was assisting in Dumas, spotted a man leaving the scene with a weapon and stopped him. The man, yet to be identified, reportedly had an AK-47 and a handgun on his person and also illegal drugs. The man was questioned by the state police but at this time they are not identifying him as a suspect in the shooting.
Special Agents of the state police Criminal Investigation Division worked through the night interviewing victims and witnesses.
The Hood-Nic Foundation says on its website that its mission is to "rebuild, reunite, and respond to the needs of the youth in our communities."
The event, which helps raise funds for scholarships and school supplies, also included a bonfire, a basketball tournament, musical performances, a teen party and a balloon release.
"The purpose of Hood-Nic has always been to bring the community together," the foundation said on its Facebook page. "This senseless violence needs to end."
Additionally, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division is reserving a telephone number for witnesses to the shooting and victims who may not have reported their injuries to contact agents assigned to the case.
Anyone who may have information related to the incident who can help agents investigating the case identify a suspect or suspects or provide information about the events leading up to the shooting are asked to call this telephone number: Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division, (501) 618-8850.
Should an incoming call go to voicemail, please leave a message with the name of the caller and telephone number where they can be contacted at any time, said a state police news release.
