A Cottonwood police officer is recovering after being shot during a shootout with a suspect on Wednesday night. It all started around 7:30 a.m. when officers said they were called out to the area of East Birch and 14th streets, after reports that 57-year-old Jeffrey John Thomas was acting erratically and threatening people with violence. Witnesses said Thomas' erratic behavior had escalated in the past few weeks. The Mobile Behavioral Crisis Team was called out and determined Thomas should be detained. But by the time officers tried to do that, he was in his home and wouldn't come out. So, police say they decided they would give Thomas some time to cool off. Later that evening, around 7:45, Thomas was holding what appeared to be a flagpole and charging at vehicles passing by him, investigators said. When officers arrived, Thomas tried to hide behind some shrubbery. Investigators believe Thomas was trying to ambush arriving officers. One of the first officers to get there was Officer Matt Strickland. Thomas then ran toward his home and officers followed. Thomas then started making erratic statements and said the police were there to kill him, according to detectives. Thomas had been using some type of makeshift flag to hide a shotgun and officers didn't know this until he opened fire. Thomas hit Officer Strickland in his left arm. The other officers took cover and returned fire.
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