Suspect in fatal Fort Smith shooting arrested
Thomas Saccente Times Record tsaccente@swtimes.com
A suspect in a reported fatal shooting in Fort Smith on Thursday was arrested Saturday.
Christopher Neil Walker, 34, was arrested sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday at Garrison Pointe Market & Cafe at 415 Garrison Ave., according to Cpl. Anthony Rice of the Fort Smith Police Department, on a felon in possession of a firearm warrant.
"We believe him to be the shooter, but he's not going to be charged with that until the Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney's Office had a chance to review the case," Rice said.
Fort Smith police responded to River Valley Inn & Suites at 5103 Towson Ave. on Thursday after receiving a call from dispatch stating that Ethan Meagley, 27, was lying in the southeast parking lot with a gunshot wound around 6:50 p.m. that day. Dispatch initially received a call in reference to an intoxicated man lying in the parking lot of Inn & Suites. Emergency personnel transported Meagley to an area hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Detectives with the Police Department believe that "some type of altercation" in the parking lot preceded the reported shooting based on their preliminary investigation of the incident, the article states. They also determined that Noah Bell, 19, was involved in the reported incident. Police located and arrested Bell for aggravated robbery and two unrelated warrants out of Sebastian County, a Police Department news release states. Bell is currently held in the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center without bond. Police also arrested possible witness Charles Ross, 27, on an unrelated warrant.
Walker is currently being held on a $50,000 cash bond, according to a Sebastian County Adult Detention Center deputy. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday at 9 a.m.