“On the preliminary cease, it was his intent to place all of them in a lodge with out having to apprehend the driving force”, Thomas added. “After he initiated the pursuit, I’m sure his mind was changed on that”.
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Police said Johnson-Shanks lived in Florissant, MO, less than four miles from Ferguson.
Ponder was taken to a Caldwell County hospital where he died after 11 PM.
In 2013, police arrested Johnson-Shanks for a drug violation during a traffic stop. Neither of the opposite adults within the automotive had a driver’s license, Thomas stated. Johnson-Shanks, 25, also died after authorities who were looking for him shot him on Monday.
Police plan to release the name of the Special Response Team member that shot Shanks after he’s been through the multi-day interview process that started Monday.
“At that point, the suspect leaned out of the driver-side window and fired multiple rounds at the trooper’s auto, striking the hood, the windshield and striking our trooper”, Thomas said. Ponder was taken to a hospital in Princeton, Kentucky, where he died.
This undated photo provided by the Kentucky State Police shows…
Ponder’s body was transported to Coffey and Chism Funeral Home in Vine Grove Monday following an autopsy in Louisville.
“We face dangers every day that… we put our uniform on and we go out to protect the public”, Thomas said. “And other people have to respect them for that”.
State police spokesman Sgt. Michael Webb said Ponder was in the Navy for several years and stationed in Hawaii for some of that time. “Good country boy, great family”, Webb said.
He was found in a secluded, wooded area not far from Interstate 24.
“It’s tragic on both sides”, Thomas said.
Police say Interstate 24 will remain shut down from mile markers 45 to 56 while investigators collect evidence. He was transferred to the St. Louis County Jail on August. 10, 2014, on an outstanding warrant for “interfering with a police officer” and on a failure to appear warrant from a previous charge of property damage.
Ponder is the second Trooper to be killed in the line of duty at Post 1 in Mayfield in three months. A traffic accident in June claimed the life of Erick Chrisman, 23, who, like Ponder, graduated from the police academy in January.
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Funeral arrangements have been made for the Kentucky state trooper who was fatally shot in the line of duty along Interstate 24.
