Trooper gunned down, suspect killed
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
September 15, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/trooper-gunned-down-suspect-killed/article_d7da315c-5aef-11e7-bd64-10604b9f0f42.html
Kat Russell / The Paducah Sun
A 31-year-old Kentucky State Police trooper was fatally shot at about 10:20 p.m. Sunday near mile marker 49 on Interstate 24 just outside of Eddyville. The man accused of shooting him was killed by police after a manhunt several hours later.
KSP Trooper Jay Thomas said Joseph Cameron Ponder conducted a traffic stop before the shooting occurred. Ponder was rushed to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton where he died at 11:41 p.m.
Police said Ponder had stopped a vehicle, driven by Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Florissant, Missouri, for speeding at 103 miles per hour heading west on I-24. After talking with Shanks, Thomas said the trooper ran his driver’s information and learned his operator’s license had been suspended.
At that point, Thomas said, Shanks was facing only minor traffic offenses. Instead of taking him into custody, Ponder decided to call for backup and try to find a motel room for the vehicle’s occupants until they could be taken home.
However, while the trooper was in his cruiser trying to arrange the motel room, Shanks drove off, initiating a chase that reached speeds of up to 115 mph, Thomas said.
Ponder pursued the vehicle for about 10 miles until it came to an abrupt stop, causing the trooper’s cruiser to “nudge” the rear of Shanks’ vehicle, Thomas said.
“At that point, the suspect leaned out of the driver-side window and fired multiple rounds at the trooper’s car, striking the hood, the windshield and striking our trooper,” Thomas said.
Shanks then fled on foot into a wooded area near the interstate, Thomas said, leaving two women and two children under the age of 6 in the vehicle. The women and children were taken into custody, and the women were interviewed Monday, Thomas said.
“One woman was cooperative, one wasn’t,” he added.
One of the women and both children have since been released, Thomas said, noting that their names have been withheld because they are not facing charges.
The other woman, Ambrea Shanks, 18, who has been identified as the suspect’s niece, was arrested and charged with first-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension.
Thomas did not specify what actions the woman took that led to her arrest.
Ponder was found still sitting in his cruiser by a backup unit that had responded to the scene.
Police shut down both directions of I-24 from mile markers 45 to 56 while officers searched the area for Shanks.
The manhunt lasted into the early hours of Monday morning and covered an area of about 10 miles during which K-9 units, helicopters and boat patrols were utilized. Several agencies from across western Kentucky and Tennessee aided in the search.
Shanks was located at about 7 a.m. in a wooded area near Bluegrass Heights and Chelsea Road, a narrow strip of land sparsely dotted with residential homes and vacant summer rentals that stretches between I-24 and the banks of the Cumberland River.
Thomas said Shanks was armed and refused to drop his weapon when ordered by an officer from the KSP Special Response Team. Shanks then aimed the gun at the trooper and was shot, Thomas said.
Shanks was taken by ambulance to Caldwell Medical Center, where he died at 8:23 a.m.
Thomas said an autopsy will be conducted today at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville. Ponder was autopsied Monday.
A native of Rineyville in Hardin County, Ponder graduated from the state police academy in January and had been assigned to Trigg County out of Post 1 in Mayfield.
He was a combat veteran of the U.S. Navy who had served as a diver with a special operations team and had been deployed “several times” before joining the state police, Thomas said.
Thomas characterized Ponder as a well-liked member of the KSP family, calling the agency a “tight-knit group of brothers and sisters.”
“He was very proud to be a Kentucky state trooper,” Thomas said. “He was new, he was eager and just absolutely loved his job.”
Ponder is the second trooper from the Mayfield post to be killed in the line of duty this year.
In June, 23-year-old Eric K. Chrisman was killed while responding to a reckless driving complaint. His cruiser was struck by a semi-truck. Chrisman also had been a graduate of the police academy in January.
Chrisman was the first trooper killed since Post 1 opened in 1948, Thomas said.
On Monday, Gov. Steve Beshear called the shooting a “tragic reminder of the risks that our law enforcement officers face every day just by putting on their uniform and doing their job."
“That he was killed in the line of duty makes his death memorable, but we must never forget the most significant part of Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder’s story — how he lived, his selfless service to others, and his willingness to give his life for that commitment.”
Early Monday morning, the trooper’s sister, Kelly Ponder, posted a response to a KSP release on Facebook that read:
“My brother was the best man in the world and did not deserve what happened to him. Please pray for us, this was an enormous loss.”
Two hours later, she posted on her own page, “My heart has never ached so bad.”
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
KSP Trooper Jay Thomas said Joseph Cameron Ponder conducted a traffic stop before the shooting occurred. Ponder was rushed to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton where he died at 11:41 p.m.
Police said Ponder had stopped a vehicle, driven by Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Florissant, Missouri, for speeding at 103 miles per hour heading west on I-24. After talking with Shanks, Thomas said the trooper ran his driver’s information and learned his operator’s license had been suspended.
At that point, Thomas said, Shanks was facing only minor traffic offenses. Instead of taking him into custody, Ponder decided to call for backup and try to find a motel room for the vehicle’s occupants until they could be taken home.
However, while the trooper was in his cruiser trying to arrange the motel room, Shanks drove off, initiating a chase that reached speeds of up to 115 mph, Thomas said.
Ponder pursued the vehicle for about 10 miles until it came to an abrupt stop, causing the trooper’s cruiser to “nudge” the rear of Shanks’ vehicle, Thomas said.
“At that point, the suspect leaned out of the driver-side window and fired multiple rounds at the trooper’s car, striking the hood, the windshield and striking our trooper,” Thomas said.
Shanks then fled on foot into a wooded area near the interstate, Thomas said, leaving two women and two children under the age of 6 in the vehicle. The women and children were taken into custody, and the women were interviewed Monday, Thomas said.
“One woman was cooperative, one wasn’t,” he added.
One of the women and both children have since been released, Thomas said, noting that their names have been withheld because they are not facing charges.
The other woman, Ambrea Shanks, 18, who has been identified as the suspect’s niece, was arrested and charged with first-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension.
Thomas did not specify what actions the woman took that led to her arrest.
Ponder was found still sitting in his cruiser by a backup unit that had responded to the scene.
Police shut down both directions of I-24 from mile markers 45 to 56 while officers searched the area for Shanks.
The manhunt lasted into the early hours of Monday morning and covered an area of about 10 miles during which K-9 units, helicopters and boat patrols were utilized. Several agencies from across western Kentucky and Tennessee aided in the search.
Shanks was located at about 7 a.m. in a wooded area near Bluegrass Heights and Chelsea Road, a narrow strip of land sparsely dotted with residential homes and vacant summer rentals that stretches between I-24 and the banks of the Cumberland River.
Thomas said Shanks was armed and refused to drop his weapon when ordered by an officer from the KSP Special Response Team. Shanks then aimed the gun at the trooper and was shot, Thomas said.
Shanks was taken by ambulance to Caldwell Medical Center, where he died at 8:23 a.m.
Thomas said an autopsy will be conducted today at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville. Ponder was autopsied Monday.
A native of Rineyville in Hardin County, Ponder graduated from the state police academy in January and had been assigned to Trigg County out of Post 1 in Mayfield.
He was a combat veteran of the U.S. Navy who had served as a diver with a special operations team and had been deployed “several times” before joining the state police, Thomas said.
Thomas characterized Ponder as a well-liked member of the KSP family, calling the agency a “tight-knit group of brothers and sisters.”
“He was very proud to be a Kentucky state trooper,” Thomas said. “He was new, he was eager and just absolutely loved his job.”
Ponder is the second trooper from the Mayfield post to be killed in the line of duty this year.
In June, 23-year-old Eric K. Chrisman was killed while responding to a reckless driving complaint. His cruiser was struck by a semi-truck. Chrisman also had been a graduate of the police academy in January.
Chrisman was the first trooper killed since Post 1 opened in 1948, Thomas said.
On Monday, Gov. Steve Beshear called the shooting a “tragic reminder of the risks that our law enforcement officers face every day just by putting on their uniform and doing their job."
“That he was killed in the line of duty makes his death memorable, but we must never forget the most significant part of Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder’s story — how he lived, his selfless service to others, and his willingness to give his life for that commitment.”
Early Monday morning, the trooper’s sister, Kelly Ponder, posted a response to a KSP release on Facebook that read:
“My brother was the best man in the world and did not deserve what happened to him. Please pray for us, this was an enormous loss.”
Two hours later, she posted on her own page, “My heart has never ached so bad.”
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
