Account set up to benefit ASP trooper, family

Arkansas State Police said Wednesday that an account has been set up at Arvest Bank to benefit Trooper Kyle Sheldon, who was shot in the line of duty Sunday evening at Rockport in Hot Spring County.

“We are beyond thankful to be able to tell you all that he is doing well, and recovering from a successful surgery. Trooper Sheldon is a fighter, and has done nothing but prove he is ready to get back home to his family and back on the road with his partners,” state police said in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon.

The alleged shooter, identified as Elsbeth Tresa Kittinger, 49, of Fort Worth, Texas, also suffered a gunshot wound and was treated at a Hot Springs hospital and later released into custody. She was being held in the Garland County Detention Center on Monday without bond, but as of Wednesday was no longer listed on the center’s inmate roster.

Sheldon, who is assigned to highway patrol with Troop K out of Hot Springs, has a “long recovery ahead of him,” the post said, “and we have had many people reach out asking how they can assist or show support for him and his family.”

An account has been set up for Sheldon and his family at Arvest Bank. “You can go to any Arvest Bank across the state and ask to donate to the ‘Kyle Sheldon Contribution Account.’”

All donations to the account will be given to Sheldon and his family, the post said.

“We ask that you please keep Trooper Sheldon and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of healing and recovery.

“Thank you ALL for your prayers, thoughts, and to any of you who have reached out with kind words and gestures — we appreciate each and

every one,” it said.

The shooting incident was reported to state troopers at

8:42 p.m. Sunday as Kittinger was reportedly asked to step outside the vehicle, which was stopped near the Valero station on Highway 270 near Interstate

30. It was at this time she reportedly fired at Sheldon, according to a news release state police released earlier this week.

Officers with the Malvern Police Department were parked near Sheldon’s patrol vehicle. Both were in the area after answering a call unrelated to the traffic stop. The officers returned gunfire at the suspect, who drove away in an older-model Dodge pickup truck.

The officers fired a second time at the suspect as she fled onto Doyle Jones Road about five miles away from the traffic stop and first shooting scene, and she was finally taken into custody, the release said.