August 18, 2025

CARLISLE, Ark. — Twenty-Third Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham concluded that the use of deadly force by three Arkansas State Police (ASP) Troopers during a June 11, 2025, officer-involved shooting was lawful and fully justified under Arkansas law.

The shooting incident occurred after Troopers and officers with the U.S. Marshals Service attempted to apprehend Felipe Millan-Gomez, 33, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Millan-Gomez was wanted in connection with an armed carjacking and kidnapping that occurred on June 9, 2025, in Manistee County, Michigan. Millan-Gomez had threatened a woman at gunpoint, forced her to drive, and later took possession of her vehicle. Law enforcement considered him armed and dangerous.

On June 11, 2025, at around 1:30 p.m., Troopers and Marshals conducted a traffic stop on Millan-Gomez’s vehicle on Interstate 40 eastbound near mile marker 180, just west of Carlisle. Upon exiting the vehicle, Millan-Gomez retrieved a firearm and pointed it toward the officers. In response, Troopers discharged their service weapons, striking Millan-Gomez. He died at the scene.

ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division conducted a full review of the incident and provided its findings to the Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. After reviewing the case, Prosecutor Graham determined that the Troopers acted within the law.

“The Troopers reasonably believed that Felipe Millan-Gomez posed a deadly threat by retrieving a firearm and aiming it at them,” Graham stated in a letter to ASP dated August 18. “Therefore, their use of deadly force was fully justified under Arkansas law regarding self-defense.”