Suspect Caught in State Troopers Murder

14 Sep, 2015

A suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a Kentucky state trooper after a traffic stop and chase is in custody, a county official said on Monday.

The suspect, Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Missouri, was shot and injured when he was apprehended, Kentucky’s Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White said.

Kentucky police earlier had said Johnson-Shanks gunned down Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder late Sunday after fleeing from a traffic stop in the western part of the state.

Ponder, 31, graduated from the Kentucky State Police training academy in January, officials said.

Police said he made contact with the driver he stopped on Interstate 24 before the vehicle took off, prompting a pursuit.

The chase ended when the suspect made an abrupt stop and Ponder’s police cruiser hit the back of the suspect’s vehicle, the statement said.

Johnson-Shanks then fired several shots into the police cruiser, hitting Ponder, the hood and windshield multiple times, before the suspect fled the scene on foot, the statement said.

Ponder died from his injuries after being taken to a hospital in Princeton, Kentucky, police said.

Reuters

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