U.S. Marshals arrest Royce Wood, suspected of shooting a Texas cop, in Arkansas
Royce Wood, the man accused of shooting a Rhome police officer June 13, was arrested without incident by the U.S. Marshals Service in Batesville, Arkansas, early Thursday morning, according to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office.
Wood and his girlfriend, Tiffany Caswell, were arrested together for separate charges against them in Wise County.
Caswell and Wood are believed to have been involved in a home invasion robbery on Coyote Trail on June 12, Akin told the Wise County Messenger. That incident led to Rhome officers trying to stop Wood the next day near Farm Road 407 and Farm Road 2264.
Police said Wood shot an officer after he was pulled over while driving his motorcycle in New Fairview.
Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said U.S. Marshals and local police were acting on a tip when they arrested Wood and Caswell outside a Batesville motel.
Akin said Wood is facing charges of aggravated assault on a public servant for shooting the Rhome police officer and aggravated robbery for the home invasion. He said Caswell is being charged with aggravated robbery for her role in that same home invasion.
Akin told the Wise County Messenger that Caswell was not the female passenger who was riding with Wood at the time of the shooting. That woman was detained and later released.
Police said Wood fired several rounds at the officer, hitting him in the leg.
The officer is expected to make a full recovery and be back on duty “in the not too distant future,” according to Akin.
The shooting triggered a Texas Blue Alert, a measure taken when a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously wounded and the attacker is not immediately apprehended.
The incident led to a state-wide manhunt, with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers joining in the search. The Wise County Sheriff’s Office did not say at which point the U.S. Marshals became involved.
Wood was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2013 after he was convicted of second-degree burglary and robbery, a sentence he began in 2014. He was released in 2019.
Caswell was arrested on a drug possession charge on June 14 and released from the Wise County Jail the next day after posting bond, the Messenger reported.
