Man pulls a gun on Arkansas news team

By Courtney Garcia, msnbc.com contributor

Reporters often face obstacles in their attempt to catch a good story, however, they rarely are threatened with a gun in the process. Such was the case for this journalist in Arkansas, who managed to stay relatively calm when her research for work took a turn for the worse.

Investigating the death of Wilton Goudeaux, an elderly man allegedly killed by his family, WREG Channel 3 News reporter April Thompson, and her cameraman, Ben Short, drove to the deceased man?s house in Joyner, Ark.,?to look for clues. After a few minutes on site, the team was met, not so fondly, by the ?best friend? of Goudeaux?s son, who stormed up furiously in a pick-up truck as they were exiting the scene.

?Get that camera off me,? said the man, also remarking that everybody was ?lying about Mr. Goudeaux.? When told by Thompson that the crew was merely searching for the truth, the man reached out and slapped the camera away, again telling the team to leave. Thompson informed the man he could not touch the camera, prompting him to stomp back to his vehicle and grab a gun.

?I bet I can do this,? he said, waving around his pistol.

Thompson and Short returned to their car and called the police, who arrived shortly thereafter.

Identified as Brandon Odom, the man was later arrested. As it turned out, Odom?s sister, who was the caretaker of Goudeaux, is also being investigated in connection with?the death of the Mississippi County man. Together with Goudeaux?s son, she is accused of?drugging the victim with sleeping pills, using meth while caring for him, stealing $100,000 from him, and leaving him malnourished. Goudeaux's death has apparently triggered much speculation around the small town, and is a sensitive subject for Odom, who himself now faces charges of aggravated assault for this incident.

While it may be another day on the job, Thompson assured her audience, she will follow up on the attempted crime.

?I didn?t know what to expect,? said the reporter. ?The last thing I thought is that he was going to the car to get a gun, but he was obviously angry. He wanted us to get out of there. We moved back but we are going to continue to follow the story with what happens to him, as well as the other three.?

Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10828900-man-pulls-a-gun-on-arkansas-news-team

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