Suspect in Kentucky state trooper shooting is dead

Just after 11 p.m. eastern time, Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder stopped a suspect on the interstate.

The suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a rookie Kentucky state trooper this weekend has died after being shot by authorities, state police said on Monday. He died of his injuries at a local hospital.

The suspect, 25-year-old Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, was briefly stopped after being pulled over by Ponder, but sped off shortly after as the rookie trooper pursued him for approximately 9 miles.

Before becoming a state trooper, Ponder served in the U.S. Navy. He was assigned Trigg County out of State Police Post 1 in Mayfield.

In June, 23-year-old Eric K. Chrisman was killed while responding to a reckless driving complaint. Shanks was lodged in the Caldwell County Jail. Johnson-Shanks slammed on the brakes, Johnson said, and Ponder “positioned” his auto against the fleeing suspect’s vehicle.

Late Monday afternoon, several dozen people from law enforcement agencies and the public formed a semi-circle for a vigil on the front lawn of Ponder’s post.

Thomas said Shanks was armed and refused to drop his weapon when ordered by an officer from the KSP Special Response Team.

Ponder was struck and rushed to Caldwell Medical Center in Princeton.

A spokesman for Kentucky State Police verified the man in the video as Johnson-Shanks.

An autopsy was conducted on Trooper Ponder today in Louisville and his results are pending. When the suspect braked, the police officer struck the back of his vehicle . While in high school, Ponder played baseball, football and broke track records in the state of Kentucky during his senior year. “Our Nation must stand united with the men and women of law enforcement who risk their lives every day to ensure that we are able to live in a safe and peaceful society”, said Whitfield. On Monday, ABC News shared that this trooper, who had been on the job less than a year, was shot during a auto chase.

In a news release, Kentucky State Police say 31-year-old trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was conducting a traffic stop Sunday night around 10:20 p.m. on Interstate 24 when the driver fled.