This post was updated on 11/26/24 to include the name of the suspect involved in the shootout with Arkansas State Police. The initial post appears under its original headline.
MALVERN, Ark. — The suspect in a fatal officer-involved shooting on Friday, November 22, 2024, has been identified as Eddie Williams III, 42, from Malvern.
During the incident, Williams, armed with an AR-style rifle, opened fire on law enforcement. In response, Troopers and officers from the MPD returned fire, striking the suspect. Three ASP Troopers and two officers with Malvern Police Department (MPD) were involved in the shooting and are on leave while the investigation continues. No Troopers or MPD officers were injured in the shooting.
Williams was wanted in connection to a shooting that occurred earlier near the Hot Spring County Courthouse.
Arkansas State Police (ASP) Troopers located Williams at approximately 2:45 p.m. driving a 2016 GMC Acadia east on Moline Street. When Troopers attempted to pull him over, Williams fled at a high rate of speed, turning south onto Martin Luther King Boulevard. He traveled about two miles before driving through a Walgreens parking lot and then onto West Page Avenue.
The deceased was transported to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to determine the manner and cause of death.
Williams was the son of the late Eddie Williams Jr., whose career as a law enforcement officer included a stint at the Malvern Police Department, as well as serving as a deputy sheriff in two central Arkansas counties, according to an obituary.
Eddie worked for the Malvern Police Department for seven years and worked in Law Enforcement for 11 years including the Little Rock, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Department and the Lonoke, Arkansas Sheriff’s Department
The victim from the initial incident, which occurred at a business at Locust Street and West Page, was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the shooting and will present the case file to the prosecuting attorney, who will determine whether the use of deadly force was consistent with Arkansas law.
Shootout with police in downtown Malvern leaves gunman dead
MALVERN, Arkansas — An officer-involved shooting Friday afternoon proved fatal for a suspect wanted in an earlier shooting at a business near the Hot Spring County Courthouse.
Arkansas State Police said detectives are investigating the incident, which reportedly prompted a high-speed pursuit through downtown Malvern. The suspect, unnamed as yet, was spotted driving a 2016 GMC Acadia on Moline Street. An ASP press release notes that state troopers attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the driver fled at a high rate of speed, turning south on Martin Luther King Boulevard — the city’s main thoroughfare — and leading police on a 2-mile chase that would pass through the storefront-lined commercial district.
The chase ended on West Page Avenue/US Highway 67 after the suspect cut through the town’s Walgreens parking lot. As the pursuit neared the Vine Street intersection — just a couple of blocks from where the original shooting occurred — a trooper performed a tactical vehicle intervention maneuver, causing the suspect’s vehicle to strike a utility pole and come to a rest.
The suspect, reportedly armed with an AR-style rifle, then opened fire on law enforcement. State troopers and Malvern police returned fire, striking the suspect. The shootout happened at about 2:45 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2024.
The suspect was pronounced dead after being transported to a Little Rock hospital. The body will be taken to the state Crime Lab.
Police said the victim of the initial shooting, which happened at a business at Locust and West Page, was treated at the local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
An investigative case file will be presented to the prosecuting attorney, who will determine whether the use of deadly force was consistent with Arkansas law.
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