Bald Knob school teacher allegedly admits to shooting and killing brother after threat to family

CLEBURNE COUNTY, Ark. – A Cleburne County man has been jailed and held on $1 million bond after allegedly shooting his brother to death.

Cleburne County Sheriff Chris Brown stated in a release that 42-year-old Dustin Cannon of Ida is currently in the county detention center and facing charges of first-degree murder after his Oct. 20 arrest.

Brown confirmed Cannon was an employee of the Bald Knob School District, but he was unsure of his role. The district’s directory lists a Dustin Cannon as a teacher, whom the high school celebrated hiring in 2024 with a Facebook post and a picture of Cannon.

Late Tuesday, the Bald Knob school district posted that a teacher, whose name the post did not provide, had been arrested in an off-campus incident “that occurred in another county earlier this week.” The employee had been placed on administrative leave after self-reporting the incident, the post continued.

Bald Knob School District Superintendent Jed Davis confirmed that Cannon was a high school biology and science teacher. Davis confirmed Cannon was the unnamed subject in the district’s post. 

Sheriff’s office officials confirmed that deputies were called to the 3000 block of Heber Springs Road in Ida in reference to a shooting. According to the arrest affidavit, when they arrived, Cannon was waiting for them in the driveway with his hands up.

Cannon reportedly told deputies his gun was lying nearby and that his brother was on the home’s back porch and was dead. Cannon told deputies he had killed his brother, Austin Cannon, continuing that Austin “threatened to kill his wife and daughter.” He continued to explain that when Austin raised his fist, he began shooting.

According to the affidavit, detectives found 18 spent shell casings on the back porch, along with a spent 40 caliber bullet. They reported that Austin had been standing on the back porch and fell after he was shot, and continued to be shot.

Per the affidavit, Dustin confirmed to police that he had fired the gun until it was empty, telling police he thought it held 21 rounds.

Detectives said in the report that they had also recovered Austin’s phone, which included a text message he received from Dustin just before the incident, challenging Austin to “come at him” using obscene language.

Court records show that Dustin Cannon’s first court appearance is Oct. 29.