Police dashcam video shows man shooting at Roland officer when checking on a stranded driver
By: Newly released police dashcam video shows a man firing multiple times at an officer who stopped to check on what he thought was a stranded driver.
"You definitely don't know what to expect anymore," said Chris Waters, assistant chief with the Roland, Okla. police department. "Just showing up to try and help somebody could have cost Officer Simpson his life."
Early Saturday morning, Officer Brian Simpson pulled behind a car that was stopped along Hwy. 64 in Roland.
In the video, the driver is seen walking to the front of the car. Less than 20 seconds later, the man is seen firing multiple times at Simpson, who was still inside his police SUV. The man ran into a nearby wooded area. Simpson was not shot, but his police vehicle was struck multiple times in the front grill area.
"If he would have been about another 12 inches higher, he could have very easily hit the officer," Waters said. "To my knowledge, he (Simpson) has never experienced anything like that."
After searching the area for several hours, Roland police were not able to find the man.
Later that day, a suspicious person call near Towson Avenue in Fort Smith led to the arrest of Denver Rowell.
Fort Smith police told 40/29 News that Rowell fled from officers and attempted to discard a loaded handgun, thought to have been used in the Roland shooting.
Waters said the clothing description matched that of the suspected shooter.
According to jail records with the Sebastian County Detention Center, Rowell had an active arrest warrant in Arkansas for parole violations.
The 22-year-old man is now facing numerous additional felony charges in Oklahoma, including four counts of Shooting With Intent to Kill.
The car that was stopped along the side of the highway in Roland was stolen, Waters said. "We were informed by the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office that the vehicle had been reported stolen approximately 30 minutes prior to the shooting."