Restaurant Owner Fatally Shot By Police

Last updated Sunday, February 20, 2005 9:38 PM CST in Front

By Trish Mehaffey
The Morning News

The owner of Herman's Ribhouse, Benjamin C. Spears, was fatally shot after police responded to a disturbance call at his residence, 2333 Juneway Terrace, the police report stated.

Police wouldn't release the name of the man who was killed, but Washington County Coroner Roger Morris identified the man as Spears. Spears died at the scene about 11:48 p.m., he said.

Police initially responded to a residential alarm at the house about 10:26 p.m., according to police dispatch information. Officers at the scene thought it might be a domestic situation when they heard yelling coming from inside the house.

A man inside the house was saying he was going to "kill" someone, according to the information.

Police officers tried to call the house but nobody answered and the call went into an answering machine, according to dispatch information.

The residence was owned by Spears, according to police dispatch information.

Officers announced themselves outside the house and a man came to the door armed with a rifle or shotgun, Fayetteville police Sgt. Shannon Gabbard said. The man made an "aggressive gesture" with the gun in the direction of the officers and the officers fired at the man, he said.

The man was fatally wounded by officers' rounds, Gabbard said. It is undetermined how many shots were fired and how many officers fired their weapons. The suspect didn't shoot his weapon, he said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Arkansas State Police will conduct an independent investigation into the shooting, Gabbard said. This is a normal procedure of the department with a police shooting, he said.

No other details were released Sunday.

Robin Ring said she was surprised this happened in their neighborhood, which is usually quiet. When she first saw the police, she thought maybe they were looking for someone who had escaped from jail because officers were going behind the houses across the street before the shooting.

"After the shooting, I saw the ambulance come up the street. The dogs (her dogs) were going crazy. They still had the street blocked off this morning," she said.

The Rings said they never heard from police concerning the shooting.

Greg Gill, who lives at 2355 Juneway, next door to Spears' house, said he was out on his back deck Saturday night about the time of the shooting but didn't hear anything.

"My dog was barking and I saw a sergeant at the gate asking me to put up my dog and go inside," Gill said.

He said he then looked out the front of his house and saw 10 police cars lined up the street.

"My mom was in the bedroom and she said she heard two shots fired," Gill said.

Gill said Spears' yard and part of his yard was roped off with police tape Sunday morning when he got up. He called police but they would only tell him there had been a shooting next door.

State Rep. Marilyn Edwards, who lives across the street from Spears at 2330 Juneway Terrace, said Sunday she and her husband had been gone over the weekend and just found out what had happened. She said Spears owned the house for the last seven or eight months and had been remodeling the inside.

Two other neighbors on the street had also been out of town and were unaware of what had happened.

Herman's Ribhouse had just recently opened after a kitchen fire there Dec. 22.

Grease had ignited wood near the kitchen stove, according to a fire report. The fire damaged the kitchen, reaching the ceiling and roof areas. Nobody was injured.

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