Officers shoot, kill suspect in two Romance slayings
ROMANCE — A suspect in a New Year’s Day double homicide was shot and killed Monday afternoon by authorities in White County.
Authorities were notified of a possible shooting at an address on Starlight Lane about 1:30 p.m. Monday, said Phillip Miller, chief deputy at the White County sheriff’s office.
A woman was found dead at the scene, and a male victim died on the way to a hospital, Miller said. Both had apparent gunshot wounds.
From witness accounts, authorities were able to determine that the shooting suspect had a firearm.
About 3:15 p.m., the suspect walked out of a “small building in the woods” and approached deputies, according to Miller.
Deputies told the suspect to show his hands, but he instead showed a gun and pointed it toward the officers, Miller said. Multiple deputies opened fire, leaving the suspect with fatal injuries.
Miller said it was unclear whether the suspect fired at deputies during the incident.
The deputies who fired at the suspect have been placed on administrative leave. The names of those shot were not immediately released, nor were the identities of the deputies involved in the shooting.
The Arkansas State Police
is investigating the officer-involved shooting, while the White County sheriff’s office is investigating the double homicide.
No law enforcement officers were seen Monday night on Starlight Lane, a rural gravel road connected to Blackjack Mountain Road.
Romance is located in east-central Arkansas about 48 miles north-northeast of Little Rock.
Monday’s shooting was the second officer-involved shooting in White County in the past month.
A White County deputy shot and killed a 69-year-old man last month after authorities say he brandished a rifle “and moved it into a firing position,” Miller said earlier in a news release.
The man, James Newman of Rose Bud, died after he was taken to a hospital, authorities said.
A prosecutor has tentatively cleared the deputy of wrongdoing in the Dec. 9 shooting, pending an investigative report from the Arkansas State Police. Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Reed McCoy said her investigation found the deputy had used justified and reasonable deadly force.