Off-duty Arkansas officer kills shoplifting suspect who attacked him with a knife, police say

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Police in Arkansas say an off-duty officer working security at a Walmart fatally shot a shoplifting suspect who attacked him with a knife on New Year’s Eve.

Little Rock police officer Kreshun King Sr. was trying to detain a man suspected of shoplifting inside the store Sunday evening when the man pulled out a knife and cut the officer’s hand, Assistant Police Chief Joe Miller said, according to KARK_TV.

King drew his gun and ordered the man to drop the knife, Miller said, then fired as the man ignored the officer’s commands and kept moving toward him.

The man who was shot, 30-year-old Benjamin McDaniel, died after being taken to a hospital, according to Little Rock police. King was treated at a hospital and released. He was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is standard practice for shootings involving Little Rock officers.