Arkansas State Trooper, Dad Of 2 Kids, Shot During Traffic Stop

ROCKPORT, AR — An Arkansas State Trooper and married father of two young children has been hospitalized after he was shot during a traffic stop in Hot Spring County, state police said. Trooper Kyle Sheldon was performing a traffic stop around 8:45 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 270 near Interstate 30 in Rockport when he asked the driver to step outside of the vehicle.

That's when police say the driver, identified as Elsbeth Tresa Kittinger, opened fire on Sheldon. Malvern police officers who had been parked near Sheldon’s patrol vehicle for an unrelated report shot back at Kittinger, who drove off in a what was described as an "older model" Dodge pickup truck.

The officers fired again at Kittinger as she fled onto Doyle Jones Road, roughly five miles away from the initial shooting scene.

Kittinger, 49, of Fort Worth, Texas, was rushed to a hospital as well for a gunshot wound. She was treated and released into the custody of law enforcement officers, state police said, She remains held at the Garland County Detention Center.

Trooper Sheldon, 30, was rushed to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, state police said. He remained hospitalized in stable condition on Monday morning.

An investigation remains ongoing. Hot Spring County prosecutors will decide on formal charges against Kittinger, police said.

Sheldon was recently featured on the state police series #whyiwearthebadgewednesdays. He was adopted at age 15 and said the family "saved" him and gave him a stable environment. Sheldon graduated from Glen Rose High School and then attended Henderson State University. He worked for the state Department of Corrections for five years before spending another three with the Malvern Police Department.

In May 2015, he became a trooper.

Sheldon says he's always wanted to be a police officer.

"I am reminded by my Noni (my mother’s mother) every time I see her how she can remember me watching Cops on television (which I now know isn’t real) instead of cartoons," Sheldon was quoted as saying. "As I spent most of my childhood being moved from place to place, with parents who chose a lifestyle on the wrong side of the law, my passion to become a police officer grew even stronger."

He said he remembers police coming to his house many times growing up.

"When I saw the lights and the uniforms pull in the yard I knew from that point on that I was safe," he said on the series. "I told myself that I would be the one who broke the cycle, and that I would set a new course in my family. I was determined to be successful and I never gave up."

Sheldon says he wakes up every day and puts on his uniform with pride and honor. He says he works every day to be a positive change in his small corner of the world.

Lead photo credit: Arkansas State Police Facebook Page

Second photo credit: Garland County Detention Center