LOUISVILLE — A Kentucky State Police trooper died after a shooting in western Kentucky and authorities are searching for a suspect, according to information posted on the police agency's Facebook page.
Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder, 31, of Rineyville, Ky., stopped a vehicle on Interstate 24 on Sunday around 11:30 p.m. Eastern, when the driver fled causing a police chase.
The chase ended about 10 miles later after the suspect stopped abruptly causing the trooper's cruiser to "make contact" with the rear of the suspect's vehicle, the police said in a statement. According to Kentucky State Police, several shots were fired at Ponder's cruiser striking the car and Ponder multiple times.
Ponder was taken to a hospital in Princeton, Ky., where he died.
The suspect, who has been identified as Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Missouri, fled the scene on foot.
Ponder has only been on the force less than a year. He graduated from the Kentucky State Police training academy in January. He was assigned to a state police post in Mayfield, Ky.
Kelly Ponder posted on the Kentucky State Police Facebook, "My brother was the best man in the world and did not deserve what happened to him.” Her Facebook profile indicates she lives in Elizabethtown, Ky.
Kentucky State Police said the shooting and chase happened along I-24 extending from the Eddy Creek area to around Bells Creek.
Ky. trooper killed; search underway for suspect
