State Troopers Kill Man in Bourbon: POLICE SAY HE CAME OUT OF HOUSE, AIMED GUN

By Jillian Ogawa, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

May 31–NORTH MIDDLETOWN — Kentucky State Police reported that troopers shot and killed an unidentified man in Bourbon County yesterday after he pointed a gun at them.

Paris police dispatchers received a call about 4:40 p.m. about a suicidal man, said state police public affairs officer Trooper Shain Stephens.

State police located and pursued the man as he drove along rural Ky. 537, also known as Cane Ridge Road. The man drove into the driveway of 2600 Cane Ridge, near the historic Cane Ridge Meeting House in eastern Bourbon County.

During a pursuit on the long driveway, the man’s vehicle backed into a trooper’s cruiser, Stephens said. The man jumped out of the vehicle and ran inside the house, Stephens said, then came back outside and pointed a gun at the three pursuing troopers, who fired at him. Stephens did not disclose how many shots were fired. He said that the man died at the scene.

Stephens said he could not confirm whether the man was living at the house. Dan J. Thornberry, 51, is listed as the resident.

Several people who identified themselves as family members went to the residence throughout the evening yesterday.

The victim is the second person in less than a week to be fatally shot by a state trooper. Jeff Jones, 44, died Friday after a standoff at a coal processing center in the David community in Floyd County.

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