Trooper's last words heard on audio clip
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
September 16, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/091615_PS_Trooper_Audio
"Shots fired, shots fired, shots ... I'm hit, I'm hit, I need assistance, I'm passing out," Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Ponder said Sunday night after several rounds were fired into the police cruiser that would ultimately take his life.
Seconds later an unidentified man who pulled over to help the trooper can be heard telling dispatch: "I really don't know what to say here. I just pulled over, I heard gun shots. This officer, I don't think he can breathe well. We're at I-24 close to Exit 45."
Those words are heard on a 10-minute audio recording of Ponder's last communication with emergency dispatch. A recent grad of the state police academy, Ponder, 31, was killed after a traffic stop on Interstate 24 West, just outside Eddyville, turned into a high speed chase.
Police said Joseph Johnson-Shanks was stopped for speeding on the interstate and driving with a suspended license. According to KSP spokesperson Trooper Jay Thomas, Shanks was facing only minor traffic offenses and Ponder was trying to "help him out" when Shanks fled.
In the audio clip, which starts at the beginning of the nine-mile pursuit, Ponder communicates details of the chase to dispatch up to the moment he was shot.
The clip starts with Ponder notifying dispatch that he was chasing Shanks on the interstate.
"I'm in pursuit at (mile marker) 58 westbound going into Lyon County," he said.
The dispatcher asked Ponder how fast he was driving, and Ponder responded, "103 (miles per hour) right now, 107."
The dispatcher then checked to make sure Ponder's backup, which was en route at the time, was getting the information Ponder was relaying.
Throughout the audio clip, Ponder kept dispatch updated about his whereabouts and speed, which reached 115 mph.
Ponder also relayed information about Shanks and the other people in the car.
"I believe there is two juveniles and two teenagers," Ponder said.
Dispatch asked for the ages of the children to which Ponder responded, "There is a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and I'm not sure of the other ones."
The conversation continued for several minutes with dispatch switching between Ponder and several backup units that were trying to reach him.
At one point a backup unit radioed to say he and another unit would get "stop strips" set up at mile marker 45.
Ponder continued to give chase, sharing the details with dispatch.
"We're passing the 50-mile marker right now," he said. "We're in the slow lane because of the construction cones. I'll let you know what lane he's coming in."
"Be advised if (Shanks) gets out on foot he's a black male, about 145 pounds, approximately 5 feet, 7 inches," Ponder continued.
Just past mile marker 50, Ponder reported that Shanks' vehicle was starting to break down.
"His car is smoking, he's slowing down, we're at 76 (mph) right now," the trooper said.
"I think he's stopping here at the 49," Ponder reported.
Less than a minute later Ponder reported Shanks was on the move again.
"He's off again," he said. "He's got a blown front left tire. I tried pinning him in, and he's trying to go still."
At that point Ponder asked dispatch for permission to hit Shanks' vehicle, which dispatch condoned.
Just before gunshots erupted, Ponder told dispatch, "He's done, he don't have a tire."
When backup units arrived on the scene, an officer informed dispatch that Ponder had been hit twice in the "upper torso."
Ponder was rushed to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton where he died at 11:41 p.m.
After the shooting, Shanks fled on foot into a wooded area about a mile from I-24. He was found after an eight-hour manhunt by a trooper with the KSP Special Response Team.
Shanks was shot after refusing to relinquish his gun, police said. He died at Caldwell Medical Center about an hour later.
Ponder had been with the Mayfield post for just under a year. A native of Rineyville in Hardin County, the trooper had recently put in a transfer request to work at a post closer to home.
Thomas said when new recruits are placed at a post, they typically serve a year there before transferring to a preferred location, usually one that is closer to loved ones.
Visitation for Ponder is scheduled for 1 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff. The funeral is at 11 a.m. on Friday at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabthtown with burial following at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery in Fort Knox.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
Seconds later an unidentified man who pulled over to help the trooper can be heard telling dispatch: "I really don't know what to say here. I just pulled over, I heard gun shots. This officer, I don't think he can breathe well. We're at I-24 close to Exit 45."
Those words are heard on a 10-minute audio recording of Ponder's last communication with emergency dispatch. A recent grad of the state police academy, Ponder, 31, was killed after a traffic stop on Interstate 24 West, just outside Eddyville, turned into a high speed chase.
Police said Joseph Johnson-Shanks was stopped for speeding on the interstate and driving with a suspended license. According to KSP spokesperson Trooper Jay Thomas, Shanks was facing only minor traffic offenses and Ponder was trying to "help him out" when Shanks fled.
In the audio clip, which starts at the beginning of the nine-mile pursuit, Ponder communicates details of the chase to dispatch up to the moment he was shot.
The clip starts with Ponder notifying dispatch that he was chasing Shanks on the interstate.
"I'm in pursuit at (mile marker) 58 westbound going into Lyon County," he said.
The dispatcher asked Ponder how fast he was driving, and Ponder responded, "103 (miles per hour) right now, 107."
The dispatcher then checked to make sure Ponder's backup, which was en route at the time, was getting the information Ponder was relaying.
Throughout the audio clip, Ponder kept dispatch updated about his whereabouts and speed, which reached 115 mph.
Ponder also relayed information about Shanks and the other people in the car.
"I believe there is two juveniles and two teenagers," Ponder said.
Dispatch asked for the ages of the children to which Ponder responded, "There is a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and I'm not sure of the other ones."
The conversation continued for several minutes with dispatch switching between Ponder and several backup units that were trying to reach him.
At one point a backup unit radioed to say he and another unit would get "stop strips" set up at mile marker 45.
Ponder continued to give chase, sharing the details with dispatch.
"We're passing the 50-mile marker right now," he said. "We're in the slow lane because of the construction cones. I'll let you know what lane he's coming in."
"Be advised if (Shanks) gets out on foot he's a black male, about 145 pounds, approximately 5 feet, 7 inches," Ponder continued.
Just past mile marker 50, Ponder reported that Shanks' vehicle was starting to break down.
"His car is smoking, he's slowing down, we're at 76 (mph) right now," the trooper said.
"I think he's stopping here at the 49," Ponder reported.
Less than a minute later Ponder reported Shanks was on the move again.
"He's off again," he said. "He's got a blown front left tire. I tried pinning him in, and he's trying to go still."
At that point Ponder asked dispatch for permission to hit Shanks' vehicle, which dispatch condoned.
Just before gunshots erupted, Ponder told dispatch, "He's done, he don't have a tire."
When backup units arrived on the scene, an officer informed dispatch that Ponder had been hit twice in the "upper torso."
Ponder was rushed to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton where he died at 11:41 p.m.
After the shooting, Shanks fled on foot into a wooded area about a mile from I-24. He was found after an eight-hour manhunt by a trooper with the KSP Special Response Team.
Shanks was shot after refusing to relinquish his gun, police said. He died at Caldwell Medical Center about an hour later.
Ponder had been with the Mayfield post for just under a year. A native of Rineyville in Hardin County, the trooper had recently put in a transfer request to work at a post closer to home.
Thomas said when new recruits are placed at a post, they typically serve a year there before transferring to a preferred location, usually one that is closer to loved ones.
Visitation for Ponder is scheduled for 1 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff. The funeral is at 11 a.m. on Friday at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabthtown with burial following at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery in Fort Knox.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
