LYON COUNTY, Ky. – A Kentucky State Trooper was shot and killed late Sunday night just south of Eddyville, Kentucky and troopers later shot and killed the suspect after he refused to put down his weapon.
According to police, 31-year-old Trooper Joseph Ponder conducted a traffic stop just before 10:30 p.m. on Interstate 24 west, near mile marker 58, just south of Cadiz Road exit.
Ponder wanted to do a favor for the driver he pulled over late at night. It turned out the man was driving with a suspended license, so the lawman was arranging for lodging for the man and his fellow travelers, including two children.
After speaking with Ponder, the driver, identified as Joseph Johnson-Shanks, led the trooper on an eight mile pursuit before shots were fired.
The driver then leaned out of the car window and reportedly started firing shots at the police cruiser, hitting the hood, windshield and Trooper Ponder, multiple times. He was transported to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton where he died just after 11:30 p.m.
Police did not say whether Trooper Ponder was able to pull out his weapon or fire any rounds during the incident.
The suspect, who ran away on foot, was identified as Joseph Johnson Shanks, 25, of Missouri.
According to WKRN News 2, he was located by troopers at around 7 a.m. in a wooded close to Interstate 24. Troopers saw him holding a firearm and instructed him to drop it. When he refused and aimed the weapon at police, a Special Response Team trooper shot Johnson-Shanks. He was transported to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton, Ky. where he died at 8:23 a.m.
At the time of the pursuit, police said two women and two children, ages 2 and 5 were inside the car. The children have since been released to a relative.
One of the women in the vehicle was identified as Ambrea Shanks, Johnson-Shanks’ niece.
The 18-year-old woman was arrested and is charged with apprehension first degree, which is a Class D felony. She remains jailed.
It remains unknown why Ponder initiated a stop with Johnson-Shanks. Police did say the gunman was driving on an expired license from Missouri.
Shawn McGuire, a St. Louis County police spokesman, said Johnson-Shanks had been arrested in August 2014 for failing to appear in an unspecified case. In May of this year, investigators began searching for him for questioning in the theft of lottery tickets.
Trooper Ponder was a U.S. Navy veteran and native of Rineyville, KY. He graduated from the Kentucky State Police Training Academy in January 2015.
Ponder’s death comes just three months after 23-year-old Erick K. Chrisman died in a traffic crash while responding to a reckless driving complaint.
Both troopers had graduated from the police academy in January. Trooper Jay Thomas says, “We’re all just holding together the best that we can and just continue to do our jobs.”