Officials say that a 16-year-old boy has confessed to fatally shooting a Newport, Arkansas police officer last month.
An arrest affidavit filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court states that Derrick Heard told police that he fired the shot that killed Lt. Patrick Weatherford and opened fire on Sgt. Shane Rogers on June 13, according to The Arkansas Democrat and Gazette.
Tyler Calamese, 18, was previously arrested and Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce said he first considered filing capital-murder charges against him. He now faces charges of breaking or entering, theft and providing a weapon to a minor.
"From the beginning, Heard was a suspect," Boyce told reporters. "We never ruled him out. We developed leads after questioning witnesses."
Weatherford, a 15-year veteran of the Newport Police Department, was killed after responding to a reported vehicle break-in at Newport High School. The officer and his partner attempted to stop Heard, but he fled on a bicycle.
Weatherford chased after Heard on foot while Rogers chased him in a patrol car. He apprehended Heard near Bowen Street and Remmel Road, when the suspect fired a handgun at the officer. Heard also fired shots at Rogers, who returned fire but did not strike the suspect.
The veteran officer was shot in the abdomen and was transported to Unity Health-Harris Medical Center in Newport where he died.
