COUNT Y NEWS
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Crawford County shooting rattles courthouse By Kenneth Fry Press Argus-Courier Editor VAN BUREN — James Ray Palmer, upset about a divorce almost a decade ago, went to the Crawford County Courthouse on Sept. 23 to kill Circuit Judge Gary R. Cottrell, authorities said. Lt. Brent Grill of the Van Buren Police Department said Palmer, armed with an assault rifle and two handguns, entered the courthouse around 3:30 p.m. Sept. 23. Palmer wore a long coat to conceal the weapons and he climbed the stairs to the second floor of the courthouse, Grill said. The 48-year-old Alma man stood outside the judge’s office. He cleared the .223-caliber assault rifle which jammed. Secretary Kristi Jones noticed Palmer’s suspicious behavior on a surveillance monitor. Jones went to an adjoining office to tell Vickie Jones, her mother and Cottrell’s administrative assistant, about the man’s unusual behavior after seeing a red laser through the door’s opaque glass. At that moment, Palmer came through the door, sprayed three shots into Vickie Jones’ office, two hitting her desk and one the wall behind her desk. One struck Jones in the leg. Palmer then walked into Cottrell’s office without saying a word to either mother or daughter. When Palmer discovered Cottrell was not in his office, he backtracked, asking Vickie Jones where the judge was. Kneeling under her desk, Jones said the judge was not in the courthouse. Cottrell was at home, nursing a knee he had injured the Sunday prior.
Photo Courtesy of Press Argus-Courier
Crawford County Judge John Hall examines bullet holes in the judge’s door at the Crawford County Courthouse in September.
Calmly, Palmer retreated from the second floor of the courthouse. On the first floor, he sprayed numerous bullets in the hallway and into two offices before walking out the Fourth Street entrance. Once on the lawn of the courthouse, Palmer engaged in a two-minute gunfight with Van Buren police officers and Crawford County deputies in which Palmer fired as many as 70 rounds, Grill said. Grill said Van Buren officers fired 20 rounds
AAC board honors Cheryl Wilson Cheryl Wilson, Union County Circuit Clerk (center), displays her award of appreciation for her service on the AAC board during her last board meeting Dec. 14. “I have enjoyed every bit of it,” Wilson said after the meeting. Also pictured are Chris Villines (left), AAC executive director, and Roger Haney, AAC board vice president and Washington County Treasurer.
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and sheriff’s deputies either three or four rounds. One bullet struck Palmer in the torso; a second in the head. He was pronounced dead a short time later at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith. Vickie Jones was taken to Sparks Regional Medical Center, where she was treated for her leg injury and later released. As Jones was being put into the ambulance, she told Cottrell over the phone, “Judge, he came here specifically to kill you.” “I guess God has something planned for me,” Cottrell said Wednesday morning on the steps of the courthouse. He said the hardest thing for him is explaining to his children why someone would want to kill him. “I’m sorry that someone felt such frustration that they had to go to this extent,” said Cottrell, who was accompanied to the courthouse by two deputies. He said he does not remember Palmer or his case or believe he has had any contact with him since the divorce and child custody case. He said he will not allow the incident to influence the way he rules on future cases. “I took an oath,” Cottrell said. “It’s important that we don’t let these things change us and the way we live our life.” During his 26 years on the bench, 13 years as a circuit judge and 13 years as a municipal judge, Cottrell said he had only received verbal threats. “This guy came here to wipe out my office,” Cottrell said. “I believe if he had killed me, he would have killed everyone in his pathway.”
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COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2012
