Kentucky Trooper Killing: Suspect Dies in Police-Involved Shooting
The officer died after a traffic stop Sunday night.
— -- The suspect in a deadly shooting of a Kentucky State Police trooper died in custody this morning, police said.
The suspect, identified as Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks of Missouri, was caught in a secluded, wooded area around 7 a.m. CT, Kentucky State Trooper Jay Thomas said at a news conference today.
The suspect was armed with a weapon, Thomas said, and he was shot by a trooper when he refused to lower the weapon.
Johnson-Shanks was taken to a hospital where he died this morning, Thomas said.
The slain trooper was identified as 31-year-old Joseph Cameron Ponder, the Kentucky State Police said.
Ponder first made contact with the suspect at a traffic stop Sunday night, police said, but the suspect fled, leading Ponder on a car chase.
After about 9 miles, the suspect stopped abruptly and Ponder's car hit the back of the suspect's car, police said. The suspect then fired at Ponder's car, hitting the trooper several times.
The suspect fled the scene on foot, police said.
Ponder, a U.S. Navy veteran, was taken to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton, Kentucky, where he died, police said.
Another woman and two children were also in the car and were not charged.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.