Bay residents speak on officer’s firing

BAY, Ark. (KAIT) - Bay residents are speaking out after the city fired Officer Christopher Schull.

“I think it was the right call,” said Savannah Kemp.

“They did the right thing,” said Stephen Parnell.

Schull is at the center of an investigation involving a fatal UTV accident that killed Stephen Kyle McMasters.

On Monday, Schull’s attorney said the city abandoned the officer for political reasons, noting the city cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.

Residents like Parnell and Kemp disagreed.

“What did he do right if he didn’t do nothing wrong?”Parnell asked.

“A man wouldn’t be, you know, deceased if he followed policy,” said Kemp.

Schull’s attorney said McMaster’s “own felonious actions are the cause of his death.”

McMaster’s family released a statement calling the attorney’s claims “abhorrently and knowingly false.”

The family’s statement said they also believe Schull’s use of force was the cause of McMaster’s death.

Parnell still had questions about the officer’s actions that night.

“Why would a truck have to hit a car, golf cart, excuse me, twice, and make him hit a telephone pole and kill him?” he asked.

Arkansas State Police is still investigating Schull, but Parnell thinks the city is safer without the officer on the streets.

“Yes, they’re better without the officer. So, another thing doesn’t happen like this. Somebody doesn’t lose their loved one over something like that,” she said.

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