Gunfire exchanged during domestic incident
Police in Missouri arrested the former husband, who police say shot at his former wife.
BELLA VISTA — A domestic disturbance call turned into a shooting while dispatchers were still on the line June 7, disrupting a normally peaceful neighborhood with gunshots.
Bella Vista police received a 911 call from 39 Applecross Lane at 12:35 p.m., said Police Chief Ken Farmer. A woman reported that her ex-husband was trying to break into her home, Farmer said.
Dispatchers heard loud bangs in the middle of the call, at which point the woman said that she had been struck by a gunshot and was hiding in a closet.
When officers arrived on the scene, an empty vehicle was hanging over a brick wall in front of the residence.
The front door was wide open and its broken glass covered the ground.
Two officers entered the home and found the woman, later identified as Brenda Doll, calling for help. She was in the master bedroom’s walk-in closet. Officers found bullet holes in the walls leading to the bathroom and a large rock near the front door.
Doll was grazed in the side by a bullet and was treated at the scene, Farmer said.
The man didn’t live at the home, Farmer said.
Police tape was placed in front of the home.
At 4 p.m. that day, Michael Doll, 50, of Jasper, Mo., was in custody at the Barton County Sheriff’s Office in Lamar, Mo. A Sig 40-caliber pistol was recovered from his vehicle.
Michael Doll called with the Bella Vista Police Department after the shooting, telling police that if law enforcement tried to stop him he would commit suicide on the spot.
On the phone, Michael Doll told police that he just wanted to find a quiet place to kill himself. He said that he is a veteran who served in Afghanistan and had seen several horrific scenes. He also said that he was in a car accident two years ago while driving his granddaughter, who died in the wreck. He suffered severe brain injuries and a back injury.
He said that he went to his ex-wife’s residence to get titles to his vehicles and his VA paperwork. According to him, he went to the door and Brenda fired shots at him through the window and tried to shoot him in the back. At that point, he attempted to kick the door open, and when it would not give he through a large rock through the door. He told police that he followed Brenda and fired shots at her, but he would not have if she had not fired at him first.
When he left the scene, he pushed his ex-wife’s vehicle off the roadway.
Brenda Doll told an investigator that she had moved to Bella Vista to get away from her ex-husband. They divorced in May 2015. She said that she fired a shot when the door was being broken in, hoping to scare away her ex-husband, who she’d seen when she opened the front door to go outside. She said that when she saw him she retreated into the home. When he entered she began firing shots at him as he was shooting at her.
Robert Pflager, who lives next to the house on Applecross Lane, said he didn’t hear any gunfire. Pflager learned of the shooting from neighbors after he took his dog outside.
“It’s an extremely quiet neighborhood,” Pflager said. “It’s an area where if you thought you heard gunfire that you would think it was just firecrackers.”
Pflager said the neighborhood is made up of mostly retirees. “It’s just a quiet neighborhood with some wonderful people,” he said.
While searching the home, police found shell casings from two different guns: .40-caliber casings and .38 Special casings. Officers found 12 .40-caliber casings and five spent .38 Special casings in a revolver.
The investigation is ongoing, Farmer said.