On a late February evening in 2022 deputies from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office went to a residence in Maumelle for a welfare check after a woman failed to show up for work and was reported being held against her will. When deputies arrived on Corvallis Road they were met with gunfire and a standoff; the suspect fled the house before they could make contact.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections K-9 unit responded to assist. Sergeant Joshua Caudell, 29, a K-9 handler with nine years of service, and his canine partner tracked a scent to a nearby modular home on Overstreet Road. While officers investigated disturbed underpinning beneath the trailer a shot was fired from underneath, and Sergeant Caudell was struck in the chest. He was transported to a hospital and later died of his wounds.

The shooter fled but was located and arrested the next day; the woman who prompted the welfare check was found safe. Sergeant Caudell was a husband and father of three and is remembered by colleagues for his service. If anyone has information about that night or knew Sergeant Caudell, please share what you remember.