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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, October 28, 2014 INCIDENTS Buffalo NR Rangers Respond To Out-of-Park Officer-Involved Shooting Rangers Justin Gibbs and Tracy Whitaker were scanning the local sheriff's department frequency on their radio on Friday, October 17th, when they heard a report of a man threatening people with a gun at a bakery in nearby Leslie, Arkansas. The rangers were operating as a double unit due to canvasing the park for a suspected child molester. The Searcy County Sheriff's Office requested their assistance and they responded. While they were en route, the rangers received an update advising that the man was shooting at police. The two rangers arrived immediately after the gunfire ceased, entered the scene, which by that time had been made secure by additional officers, found a deputy lying on the ground, wounded but conscious, and a single suspect, also lying on the ground wounded but conscious. Both rangers, trained and equipped for tactical emergency medical services (TEMS), switched gears and began rendering medical aid to both the wounded deputy, who had received a single gunshot wound to his hip, and his assailant, who had received multiple gunshot wounds from the deputy. The deputy had continued returning fire at the suspect even after being shot. An Arkansas state trooper was also involved, returned fire but sustained no injuries. Paramedics from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center arrived shortly thereafter and the rangers assisted them with packaging the two patients, who were flown to definitive treatment via medevac helicopters. The wounded deputy was released from the hospital the following day and is expected to make a full recovery. The Searcy County Sheriff's Office and Arkansas State Police are sharing the lead in this investigation. The wounded Searcy County deputy and the Arkansas state trooper are personal friends of the two rangers. Buffalo National River rangers conduct two TEMS trainings, as well as several active shooter and similar armed confrontation/use of force training courses, every year. [Kevin Moses, Middle Buffalo District Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): El Morro NM - The "Camel Corps Commemoration”, a four-day event held in mid-September, drew high visitation to the monument. It commemorated an 1857 experiment by the Army testing camels as beasts of burden in the punishing deserts of the American Southwest. Today's Almanac - Strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible this afternoon in the Ohio River Valley and lower Great Lakes region. Wilderness Stewardship - The National Wilderness Conference, the single largest national event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, was hosted in Albuquerque, New Mexico, between October 15th and October 19th. Northeast Region - On Saturday, September 20th, approximately 1100 people visited Booker T. Washington National Monument to take part in the grand opening of the park's new exhibit “Born Here, Freed Here” and the “Harvest Time of 1864” special event. Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program - The National Park Service-approved seasonal law enforcement training program academy at Colorado Northwestern Community College held a ceremony this month marking its move to CNCC's Rangely campus. Yellowstone NP - The National Parks Conservation Association has honored Superintendent Dan Wenk with its Stephen T. Mather conservation award. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |