Arkansas police officer Calvin Nicholas “Nick” Salyers has been arrested and charged with shooting and killing a fellow officer who knocked on his door, local station KIRO7 reported Tuesday. The incident happened after Salyers threatened to “shoot through the door” at protesters who come to his home.
Salyers, 33, killed 36-year-old Scott Hutton, who was shot through Salyers’ front door last month, according to the news outlet.
The Alexander Police Department initially tried to cover up the incident by saying the shooting was accidental, even saying Hutton died in the line of duty on a GoFundMe page set up for his widow.
Earlier this year as protests over the death of George Floyd ramped up, Salyers told Alexander police training officer Sgt. Matt Wharton that he’d shoot protesters through his door if they showed up at his home.
“Sgt. Wharton told me that he instructed Officer Salyers that he could not do that because it was reckless and negligent,” Special Agent Ryan Jacks wrote in the arrest affidavit. “Wharton stated that they could not shoot anyone without identifying them first and identify(ing) that there was a threat.”
According to investigators, Hutton had driven to Salyers’ home to pick up a patrol vehicle. When he tried to text Salyers but received no answer, he knocked his door. Salyers, who was watching a movie with his girlfriend on the couch, grabbed his gun when he heard the knock. When he looked through the peephole, he saw a figure standing there with a gun on his hip.
“Salyers stated that he transferred his weapon from his right hand into his left hand and reached for the doorknob and, as he opened the door, he fired a round through the front door,” Jacks wrote. It was only after Hutton had fell to the ground that Salyers realized what he’d done.
Evidence showed that Salyers had his Glock pressed against the door when he fired.
Alexander Police Officer Calvin Salyers has been arrested by Arkansas State Police and charged with felony manslaughter in the June 3rd shooting death of Alexander Police Officer Scott Hutton (pictured). pic.twitter.com/EmthXapNke
— Chris May (@KATVChrisMay) July 9, 2020
Read the full report here.
