Jeremiah Hackler was 22 when he died of a single gunshot wound to the chest on the evening of September 24, 2014, at a residence on East Cadron Ridge Road in Greenbrier, Arkansas that doubled as a hospice facility. Paramedics performed CPR and transported him to Conway Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

An 18-year-old caretaker at the facility, Patrick Bauhaus, called 911 and told dispatchers he had accidentally shot his friend. Deputies escalated the matter to a homicide investigation after processing the scene. Investigators also found explosive materials and firearms in the hospice, prompting responses from the Conway Fire Department Bomb Squad, Arkansas State Police, the ATF and the FBI. Two elderly hospice residents were checked at a hospital and were unharmed.

Bauhaus and two other 18-year-olds present, plus the hospice owner-operator, were taken in for questioning; one of the 18-year-olds was later released.