UPDATE 9:49 a.m., 9/15/15: The Kentucky state trooper who was shot and killed during a car chase late Sunday was doing a favor to the suspect who shot him because he was driving with a suspended license.
The trooper had arranged overnight lodging for the man and his companions, which included two children.
However, the plans unraveled when the driver drove off during a stop on the interstate's rural stretch, state police spokesperson Trooper Jay Thomas said, according to Fox News.
UPDATE 12:46 p.m., 9/14/15: Joseph Johnson-Shanks was declared dead after he was taken to a hospital for injuries sustained during a police standoff, according to Reuters.
UPDATE 11 a.m., 9/14/15: The suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a Kentucky state trooper after a traffic stop and chase is in custody, a county official revealed, according to Reuters.
The suspect, identified as Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Missouri, was shot and injured during the confrontation that led to his arrest, Kentucky's Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White said.
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The Kentucky State Police said that one of their state troopers was shot and killed on Sunday late in the evening during a traffic stop that became a car chase. Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder, 31, was declared dead shortly before midnight at a hospital in Princeton, Ky. after he was shot multiple times, the department said in a statement, according to FOX News.
Ponder was doing a traffic stop on Interstate 24 at around 10:20 p.m. when the driver bolted. It was then followed by a chase, which involved the suspect abruptly stopping.
The trooper's car ended up "making contact with the suspect's car, where the driver then proceeded to fire numerous shots at the trooper's car, according to the Associated Press.
A manhunt is currently underway for the suspect, whom the police have identified as 25-year-old Joseph Johnson-Shanks from Missouri.
Johnson-Shanks had fled the scene on foot. He was described by the police as a black man, 5-feet 5-inches tall, weighing 140 pounds last seen wearing dark clothing, according to WKYT.
Additional reporting by Jelani James
