HARRISON, Arkansas — A Branson camper wielding a BB gun pistol was shot dead by one of two park rangers who encountered the man at Spring Creek Campground on Aug. 20, according to the National Park Service.

According to the Park Service, at 1:34 a.m. that day, two National Park Service law enforcement rangers were conducting a routine patrol of the Spring Creek Campground, in the Lower District of the Buffalo National River.

In a news release, the Park Service said preliminary results of an investigation found that "as the rangers entered the campground, they were immediately confronted by a white man, later identified as Jonathan Bolger, 34, of Branson, Missouri."

According to the Park Service, the rangers identified themselves as law enforcement officers and illuminated Bolger with flashlights. Bolger was pointing an object directly at the rangers, which they believed was a semi-automatic handgun.

The rangers ordered Bolger to drop the handgun and he refused, according to the Park Service. He continued verbally challenging them and was then shot by one of the rangers.

The rangers provided immediate life-saving efforts to Bolger, the release said, but they were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead by Regional Medical Center ambulance personnel when they arrived.

According to the preliminary investigation, Bolger was armed with a Umarex XCP air pistol, which resembles a two-toned semi-automatic handgun and does not have an orange tip to identify it as an air pistol.

Both rangers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, as is the normal protocol of the NPS. Also in accordance with NPS procedures, once the investigation is complete, the case will be presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Searcy County prosecutor for review.

An attorney representing Bolger's family has said Bolger was shot twice, once in the upper right shoulder blade and once in the hip.

David Ransin, a Springfield attorney who represents Bolger's two brothers and his mother, reacted Thursday to the Park Service's news release.

"Jonathan’s family is concerned that the way the press release is worded with conspicuous gaps in the story, it could leave a reader with an impression very much different than the facts we have obtained at this time from our ongoing investigation," Ransin said in an email.

"We look forward to reading the incident report we expect to be released soon which Jonathan’s family hopes discloses why the rangers left their vehicle up the road with the lights off and walked into the campsite at 1:30 in the morning, what the rangers did to either escalate or de-escalate the situation before deciding to shoot, what Jonathan was doing when the ranger opened fire, and the number of bullets fired and locations of his wounds."

Ransin added a final comment.

"Under our system of justice, everyone is presumed to be innocent until all the facts are presented in court, so no one should jump to any conclusions until that time."

The Springfield News-Leader has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the official incident report. The Park Service has not yet complied with that request, nor has it identified the officer involved in the shooting.

The investigation is being conducted by the NPS Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Team, a specially trained unit of special agents from around the country. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigative Division and Searcy County Sheriff’s Department provided substantial investigative support at the scene of the incident and are actively assisting the NPS in the investigation.