Wounded officer now responsive

Improvements seen 6 days after shooting; suspect recovering

FAYETTEVILLE — Prairie Grove police officer Tyler Franks, who was shot May 4 while responding to a domestic disturbance call, remains in intensive care but is awake and communicating, according to the hospital.

Franks was taken off a ventilator, according to a statement Sunday from Washington Regional Medical Center at the request of Franks’ family.

Franks was shot in the torso and upper legs, according to Capt. Jeff O’Brien with the Prairie Grove Police Department.

Nickolas M. Colbert, 42, was shot by police during the altercation. Colbert also is at Washington Regional, O’Brien said, and is expected to recover.

O’Brien said Monday that Franks is much improved.

“He’s wide awake and communicating with us,” O’Brien said. “He’s starting to drastically show improvement. We’re on the road to recovery.”

O’Brien said support personnel is available for family members and officers. There are 15 full-time officers in the department, according to O’Brien, who said the shooting has affected all of the officers and their families.

“We’re seeing a wide range of emotions,” he said, noting some officers are dealing with it quietly while others want to talk.

“We’re all internalizing it differently,” he said.

O’Brien said a GoFundMe account has been set up for Franks and his family, and an account has been opened at Arvest Bank to accept donations for the family. A fundraising event has been set 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Ozark Axe House, 718 N. Second St., Suite 102, in Rogers.

Officer Andrew Gibson, who fired several shots at Colbert and pulled Franks out of the home to begin life-saving measures, remains on administrative leave according to department policy, according to O’Brien.

Prairie Grove police will do an internal investigation of Gibson’s actions in the shooting to determine if departmental policies were followed and the Washington County sheriff’s office will handle the investigation into the police shooting of Colbert. O’Brien said he expects Gibson to remain on leave through this week for his own benefit and to make sure the internal investigation is thorough.

“Everything right now points to the fact that he acted appropriately,” O’Brien said. “We want him to take some time off. Something like this can have quite an emotional impact, and we want to make sure we’ve got everything looked at.”

Kelly Cantrell, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said Monday there was no information to release on the investigation.