The Booneville police chief was shot in the leg early Wednesday when he and other officers were ambushed while responding to a call about a suicide threat, authorities said.

Chief Albert Brown was in stable condition at Mercy Hospital on Wednesday morning and the suspect in the shooting was in custody and being questioned, Logan County Sheriff Boyd Hicks said.

“He arrested the guy after he shot him,” Boyd said of Brown. “He placed the man in custody.”

Hicks said he received the call about the shooting about 1:35 a.m. Wednesday. He was reviewing Logan County 911 calls mid-morning Wednesday to determine when the man called in the suicide threat and what he said.

Hicks said Logan County’s 911 dispatcher received the call about a suicidal man at a home in Booneville. Brown and other officers responded. A man who was armed with a long gun and a handgun walked around the corner of the house and immediately fired with the handgun, striking Brown in the leg.

Officers did not return fire, Hicks said. He said they were so close to the man they tackled and arrested him.

An officer drove Brown in his patrol car to Mercy Hospital in Booneville, and Brown was transferred to Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith. Hicks said he followed Brown to Fort Smith and spoke with him in the hospital. He left Brown about 6:30 a.m.

“I think everything is going to be all right,” Hicks said.

The Booneville Police Department and the Arkansas State Police were handling the investigation, Hicks said.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.