A Marion County sheriff's deputy was shot and killed after stopping to check on a motorist early Wednesday, according to Kentucky State Police.
Deputy Carl Anthony Rakes, 31, was taken to Spring View Hospital in Lebanon after he was shot about 2 a.m., but he died during surgery, state police said.
Preliminary autopsy results showed Rakes died from two gunshot wounds to the abdomen and upper torso, state police said.
State police later arrested the suspect, Dewayne Shipp, 49, of Breckinridge County, after stopping him in Campbellsville. Shipp has been charged with murder.
Rakes was driving east on U.S. 68 when he saw a 2007 Kia stopped in the westbound lane, said Trooper Billy Gregory, a state police spokesman.
Rakes turned around and pulled up behind the vehicle to see what was wrong. He was shot beside the vehicle, Gregory said.
Before approaching the car, Rakes had called in the license number to the dispatch center, Gregory said. That is standard procedure. Among other things, the purpose is to give information in case something happens to the officer during the traffic stop.
After Rakes was shot, he was able to call dispatch to report the shooting, Gregory said.
Police and emergency workers found Rakes at the scene of the shooting, which was near the Lebanon city limits.
Police had a description of the vehicle allegedly involved in the shooting and began searching. A state police officer spotted the 2007 Kia in Campbellsville between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., Gregory said.
Shipp was fairly compliant as police arrested him, although he did resist being handcuffed, Gregory said.
Shipp did not say why he allegedly shot Rakes, Gregory said.
Shipp had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his left leg. It wasn't clear how or when that happened, Gregory said. Shipp was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital for treatment.
Shipp has an arrest record in several counties.
Rakes was a patrol officer for the Lebanon Police Department from July 2004 to March 2006, when he left to join the Marion County Sheriff's Office, said Maj. Greg Young of the city police department.
Young said Rakes was an easygoing man. People liked him even after he'd had occasion to arrest them, Young said.
"He always got along with everybody," Young said.
Young said Rakes was single and had no children.
Rakes was performing one of the most dangerous tasks police face when he was killed, Young said.
Traffic stops are potentially dangerous because the officer doesn't know who is in the car or what the person might have done or might be planning to do, he said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
