A shootout with lawmen near the Progress community Friday ended with the arrest of a man authorities say held a family at gunpoint while uttering strange religous statements.
Pike County sheriff’s deputies arrested 61-year-old Rodney Bruce Smothers on a charge of attempted murder.
The series of events that led to Smothers’ arrest began to unfold around noon Friday when Smothers, armed with a shotgun, walked up to the front door of a mobile home he owned at 1113 Mudline Road, east of Magnolia, Chief investigator Bruce Fairburn said.
The tenant of the property, Brian Spiers, was home at the time with his two young daughters.
Fairburn said Spiers opened his door and knew there was trouble when he saw Smothers, who was pointing a gun at him and was threatening to kill him.
Fairburn said Smothers’ threats were laced with references to the Mormon church.
At some point, Spiers reportedly saw an opportunity to grab both of his daughters and run out of the home.
Spiers and his daughters heard shots being fired but kept running.
Fairburn said neighbors heard the shots and called 911, prompting an immediate response from sheriff’s deputies.
The first deputy to arrive, pulled his vehicle partially into Spiers’ driveway, about 50 yards away from the home, which is positioned at the top of a hill.
Smothers, who was standing at the top of the hill, allegedly fired down at the deputy, prompting the lawman to exit the vehicle and take cover.
After Smothers ignored the officer’s verbal commands to drop the weapon, the deputy returned fire but missed his target.
Backup soon arrived, and other deputies began to engage in the firefight, though the 50-yard distance and the suspect’s advantage of higher ground hindered the lawmen’s accuracy, Fairburn said.
Smothers eventually ceased shooting and surrendered as more lawmen arrived.
“He gave up when enough lead was flying at him, and he decided to stop,” Fairburn said. “It’s just kind of a scary situation.”
While no one was injured in the hail of gunfire, one deputy did sustain a laceration to his arm when he accidentally broke a window of the mobile home.
District Attorney Dee Bates said blood tests were ordered to determine if Smothers may have been under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
Smothers is being held in the Pike County jail. Bond information was not available Saturday night.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agents also were on the scene and will be handling the case, since the shooting involved sheriff’s deputies.
