Police Negotiating With Suspect in Fatal Shooting of Deputy

Arkansas State Police say a sheriff's deputy was fatally shot and two other people were found dead in rural Arkansas on Thursday. Police say authorities are negotiating with a suspect who is holed up in a home, the AP reports. The state police say Lt. Kevin C. Mainhart, of the Yell County Sheriff's Office, was en route to a disturbance call Thursday morning when he pulled over a vehicle. State police spokesman Bill Sadler says the deputy was fatally shot during the traffic stop.

Sadler says once officers arrived at the location of the initial disturbance call, they found two more people dead. Sadler says authorities believe the traffic stop and the disturbance call are connected. He says the suspected shooter is now in a home in rural Arkansas and that officers are trying to coax him into surrendering. (More Arkansas stories.)