Police say a Missouri man accused of fatally shooting a Kentucky trooper has been shot and killed after an hours-long manhunt.
Trooper Jay Thomas, a state police spokesman, says 25-year-old Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks was shot by police Monday morning when he refused to drop his weapon. He later died at a hospital.
Authorities say 31-year-old trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was conducting a traffic stop Sunday night when the driver fled. After a chase, the suspect stopped his car abruptly and fired several shots into Ponder's cruiser. He died later at a hospital.
Police had said Johnson-Shanks fled on foot. Numerous law enforcement agencies had been aiding in the search, using helicopters and dogs in the rural, wooded area.
Ponder is the second trooper from the Mayfield post in western Kentucky to be killed in the line of duty this year.