FLATWOODS, KY—Authorities have captured the suspect who is accused of shooting a police officer overnight in Flatwoods.
Tommy Robinson, a Flatwoods police officer, is recovering from a gunshot wound that required emergency surgery.
Jonathan Smithers, of Catlettsburg, was apprehended after a Kentucky State Police Trooper spotted him near the Dollar General on Argillite Road at around 7:15 a.m. He was arrested in the parking lot.
It's less than a mile from where the shooting occurred at around 2:40 Monday morning. Unarmed, Smithers was wearing the same hooded sweatshirt a Ring doorbell video captured him wearing just hours earlier.
"Once the trooper made contact with him, the suspect attempted to flee," said KSP Trooper Shane Goodall. "The trooper gave chase on foot and was able to use his TASER to incapacitated at which time he was placed under arrest. No one was injured."
Robinson was shot after the agency received a call about a suspicious person, according to KSP.
KSP did not release the officer's identity on Monday, but several elected officials, including Raceland Mayor Eddie Cumpton, and former/fellow law enforcement officers confirmed it was Robinson who had been shot.
According to Goodall, once the officer approached the suspect, he was shot once in the neck. The officer's wound required emergency surgery. As of noon Monday, he was in stable condition.
"They said he was very, very fortunate," Goodall said.
Robinson's daughter created a GoFundMe account called the "Tom Robinson Emergency Fund," which will help handle hospital bills.
The shooting occurred on E Street off of Walnut Street in Flatwoods at Bayberry Townhomes, according to KSP. It happened around 2:40 a.m. on Monday.
KSP investigated the incident, and "pretty much every agency in the area" assisted, Goodall said.
Russell Independent Schools announced a little after 5 a.m. that there would be no school on Monday due to a "safety issue." Raceland Schools Superintendent Larry Coldiron announced Raceland was closed, too.
As of 7:30 a.m., Goodall said "everybody (involved) is safe, and the suspect is in custody. We are still processing the scene. It'll be a lengthy investigation ahead of us."
Smithers is in the Boyd County Detention Center.
Smithers had these direct charges: fleeing or evading police (first degree), first-degree possession of methamphetamine (first offense) and possession of marijuana.
His other charges are as follows: possession of matter portraying sexual performance by a minor under 12; promotion of a minor (under 16) in a sexual performance.
He was to appear in court to enter a plea regarding those two charges this Thursday.
More charges are expected.
Smithers suffered a small laceration on his head whenever he was TASED, and he fell and hit the pavement, according to Goodall. He was transported to the hospital first before heading to jail.
Goodall said the circumstances were "fortunate" and that "God was with us today, and the officer, of course."
Goodall said authorities are still working to locate the semi-automatic weapon he used, and a vehicle.
"I don't believe he had an accomplice," he said, adding that the public shouldn't have anything to fear at this time.
"We couldn't have done this without all the departments working together," Goodall said.
It wasn't Smithers' first run-in with the law this year. Back in January, he was charged with second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree burglary.
He posted $2,500 cash bond on March 1, according to court records.
Smithers was charged with attempted murder back in 2004 after stabbing a 10-year-old girl 23 times in September 2003 when he burglarized an apartment in Catlettsburg.
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