A tense morning unfolded for officers in Lawrence County on Friday morning. The incident began shortly before 9:30 am when officers were dispatched to a domestic on Lawrence 712.
The caller who stated she was the suspects mother-in-law alleged the suspect assaulted a female in the home and discharged a weapon twice in the home. The subject them fled the residence in a brown ford 4×4 vehicle.
Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Yates and several deputies responded to the scene, an ambulance from Medic One was staged at Minturn. The subject threatened the mother-in-law if she contacted authorities.
Once on scene, officers checked the safety of the family members in the residence before evacuating them to the Sheriff’s Office. Officers then discovered the truck the suspect was last seen in off the road in an area of woods. Officers approached the vehicle but found it to be empty. Family stated the subject left with a 20 gauge shot gun but shells for a 30-30 and 270 were found in the vehicle. 4 units from the Arkansas State Police were dispatched to assist county officers.
A phone ping was attempted but unsuccessful but a civilian had contact with the suspect and was relaying information to Sheriff Yates. Officers set up a perimeter around the wooded area. At 10:23 am officers reported hearing a gunshot, 2 more shots were heard but Arkansas State Police made contact with 3 hunters who stated the shots were unrelated.
The suspect stated via cell phone that he was unarmed and would only surrender to Sheriff Yates. The search area included railroad tracks, all trains were stopped for officer safety until the situation could be resolved.
At 10:44 am Sheriff Yates reported he had the subject in sight as he was exiting the woods. Moments later Sheriff Yates stated the suspect was in custody and in route to the Lawrence County Jail.
The suspect was identified as William Wilson 33 years old of Minturn, Wilson was charged with Aggravated Assault, Battery 2nd Degree, Committing a Terroristic Act, Terroristic Threatening. Wilson will be held for a bond hearing and court date.
For more information on the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office visit www.lawrencecountysheriffsoffice.com .