An Elmore County deputy sheriff is in a Montgomery hospital after being shot during a seven-hour standoff with law enforcement in Claud on Saturday night.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said Jeffrey Cofer, 59, of Claud is now in the Elmore County Jail and faces a number of charges.
“We haven’t inventoried all the charges yet,” Franklin said. “The evidence at the moment is the assault of a law enforcement officer with a gun and shooting into an occupied dwelling. I’m sure there will probably be more.
The Elmore County Jail inmate list has Cofer charged with attempted murder as of 8:45 a.m. Sunday.
Franklin said the hours-long standoff began around 5 p.m. Saturday night.
“We started helping a victim who was reporting shots fired in an occupied dwelling,” Franklin said. “The victim said he saw Mr. Cofer bring a gun to a ready position. We believe nine bullets were fired and several bullets entered the house. »
Franklin said the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office shift supervisor and an investigator attended Cofer’s home on Claud Road, just outside the jurisdiction of the Eclectic Police Department.
“He wouldn’t come to the door, but we were convinced he was there,” Franklin said. “There were several cars there and they weren’t hot. We then saw movement in the house.
Franklin said his deputies did not want to leave the house and determined there was an outstanding misdemeanor warrant against Cofer.
Franklin said deputies tried to contact Cofer on Saturday without success, but were able to find a family member to help.
“[The family member] let us know of any mental issues Mr. Cofer may have,” Franklin said. “[The family member] and tried to talk to him using a PA system. At one point, Mr. Cofer comes out and fires five to seven bullets at the deputies. A bullet hit a deputy near his body armor in the shoulder.
The deputy was airlifted to a hospital in Montgomery.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Franklin said. “He is extremely lucky.”
Franklin said numerous messages were left by him on Cofer’s phone and gas was used to try to get Cofer out of the house.
“Just after midnight he agrees to come out of the house,” Franklin said. “He exited through a side door and a deputy took him into custody.”
Franklin said patience and a familiar voice likely helped Cofer get out of the house.
“I believe the [family member’s] the voice was reassuring,” Franklin said.
Franklin said it was suspected Cofer fired shots at a home in another law enforcement jurisdiction in November.
“[The family member] requested the assistance of another law enforcement agency to remove the weapons from Mr. Cofer’s residence in another jurisdiction at the time,” Franklin said. “[The family member] said he contacted Montgomery Area Mental Health and they have yet to contact [the family member].”
Franklin said deputies and investigators are inventorying a number of weapons taken from Cofer’s home after home.