A Wheatley woman is believed to have killed her husband Monday afternoon before turning the weapon on herself.
Margaret Darby, 58, is in extremely critical condition today at the Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis with a gunshot wound to the chest area. Her husband, Jimmy L. Darby, 60, is dead.
St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Criminal Investigator Glenn Ramsey said the shootings were reported about 12:40 p.m.
"We received a 911 call from a person who works at the bank in Wheatley," Ramsey said. "She said she heard what sounded like gunshots and saw a man come out of the Darby house and fall down." The First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas branch is located just across the street from the Darby home.
Deputies arriving on the scene found Mr. Darby on the ground just outside the front door to his home on Little Rock Street.
Ramsey said he believes Mr. Darby was shot three times twice in the chest area and once in the back. His body was sent to the State Crime Lab in Little Rock for an autopsy.
Inside the residence, deputies found Mrs. Darby lying in front of a recliner in the living room with a "single contact gunshot wound to the chest area," Ramsey said. A Ruger 22-caliber semi-automatic pistol was found near her feet, he added. Family members told police the gun belonged to Mrs. Darby.
She was taken by ambulance to the Palestine-Wheatley Junior High School football field from where she was airlifted to the Memphis hospital. "As of 7:30 today, she is in very critical condition," Ramsey said.
Investigators believe the shootings may have been premeditated, but are unsure as to what extent. Ramsey said deputies found three notes in Mrs. Darby's purse to her husband, son and daughter.
Ramsey said police are still investigating the shootings to determine a motive. Police had answered family disturbance calls at the residence on prior occasions, he added.
Investigators are continuing to interview people and collect evidence in the shooting. Ramsey said that evidence will be turned over to First Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long.
It was another wild and wooly week in the Professor Pigskin Football Contest.
A misprint in last week's list resulted in two games being thrown out of the mix entirely and a rescheduled high school game (the Springdale-Shiloh matchup) to Monday night rather than Friday made it impossible to judge that game, due to Times-Herald printing deadlines.
Never fear, we will get it right, hopefully this week.
Even with the maneuvering, nine readers tied with three misses each -- which brought into play the tie-breaker game -- Forrest City vs Marianna. The closest guess to the actual score of this game breaks the tie and becomes the winner.
Forrest City won the game 29-0 which meant that Nancy Herbert's guess of Forrest City 27, Marianna 7 was the closest to the actual score. She pockets the $50 cash prize this week.
Several area churches are responding to this morning's attacks in Washington D.C. and New York City with prayer services scheduled for this evening.
Forrest Citians may contact area churches to find out what times services are scheduled.
In addition to large airports, the Forrest City Municipal Airport is closed until further notice.
Bill Watkins, office manager for Hutcherson Flying service, said the call came in about 11 a.m.
"All the flight plans from this area are filed through Jonesboro Flight Service," he said. "Everything is put into a computer. They called about a half hour ago and shut us down. No flights are allowed out of the airport."
That includes agricultural flights.
"That's what I asked," said Watkins. "I asked,
'You mean ag flights?' and he said everything."
Calls to the local National Guard Armory were referred to Camp Robinson. The Public Affairs office at Camp Robinson faxed a press release.
The release stated in part, that the National Guard is restricting access to Camp Robinson in North Little Rock and Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith. Only those who work on the post and who have a valid reason to be there will be allowed to enter.
"Traffic is usually open to the public and will open again once a decision has been made to do so," the release stated. "The closing is not a response to any direct threat, but is a routine precaution under pre-established force protection procedures."
According to the release, those procedures state that any time an incident occurs or when intelligence is received indicating possible terrorist action, certain actions will be considered.
All vehicles granted access to camp Robinson and fort Chaffee are subject to random searches.