Jury acquits Arkansas man in Missouri killing

PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) - A 32-year-old man has been acquitted of fatally shooting his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and wounding another man in southwest Missouri.

The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/QsEQ5y) reports that jurors in McDonald County determined Friday that Brian Clapper of Bentonville, Ark., was justified in in the September 2011 shooting.

Prosecutors said the shooting happened while Clapper accompanied his girlfriend to collect her possessions from the home of her ex-boyfriend, 34-year-old John Bevill II.

Clapper told investigators he shot and killed Bevill because he grabbed the woman and wouldn't let go. He then shot 23-year-old Kendrick Long, of Rogers, Ark., in the arm.

Jurors considered charges that ranged from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter in Bevill's death. For the wounding of Long, jurors were asked to consider everything from first-degree assault to misdemeanor assault.