Officials: Suspect in death of Arkansas police officer captured in Mississippi

Published 10:29 am Friday, November 13, 2020

A man wanted in the fatal shooting of a police officer in eastern Arkansas was arrested Friday in northwest Mississippi, according to Arkansas State Police.

Latarius Howard, 29, surrendered to U.S marshals shortly after 6 a.m. in Shaw, Mississippi, Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said.

Howard was wanted in a previous shooting that wounded a man when Helena-West Helena Officer Travis Wallace stopped an SUV on Thursday after seeing Howard in the passenger seat, Sadler said.

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Howard then got out of the vehicle and opened fire, striking Wallace, 41, who returned fire, according to Sadler.

Wallace died at a hospital, while Howard was apparently not injured, Sadler said.

A second officer at the scene was not injured, according to Helena-West Helena Police Chief James Smith, and the vehicle in which Howard as a passenger fled the city, which is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of Little Rock.

The suspected driver, Bruce Hillie, 24, was also arrested Friday, in Indianola, Mississippi, on a hindering apprehension warrant, according to Sadler.