An Arkansas man is under arrest after allegedly breaking into a West Monroe school Saturday and peppering the inside of the building with bullets in an effort to provoke a confrontation with police.
West Monroe Police Sgt. C.J. Beck says the department has surveillance footage of Jeffery Smith’s 12 hours inside the school, and the tape shows a man who was clearly perturbed.
“He shoots six shots into the window, he barrels through the bottom glass where he shot, he retreats to a nearby bathroom, and it looks like he is using the wall for cover as he is looking towards the front door,” says Beck.
Beck says police found six bullet casings outside the school and a further 19 inside the building. Surveillance shows Smith randomly firing shots into the bathroom, and down the hall.
But the police never came because the school’s burglar alarm never went off, so Beck says Smith tried a new tactic.
“So he shot at the fire alarms, and obviously he disabled the fire system when he did that, so there was no fire response, and after 12 hours he finally gave up and left,” says Beck.
A maintenance worker arrived Sunday to find the school riddled with lead and called police with Smith long gone.
Beck says Smith has reiterated that he wasn’t targeting any of the children or teachers at Riverbend Elementary, but his motive is still unclear.
“We don’t know if his intent was suicide by cop, or to take a cop out, you know, shoot at the police,” says Beck.
Beck was armed with a 9mm handgun.
