Kentucky police officer fatally shot during investigation

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky police officer has been fatally shot while on duty and state police are handling it as a murder investigation.

Kentucky State Police said in a statement that Pikeville Officer Scotty Hamilton was killed Tuesday night as troopers were assisting Pikeville police on an investigation. Police said Hamilton and Trooper Matt Martin were patrolling Hurricane Creek when they came upon a suspicious vehicle.

The statement says officers spoke with occupants of the vehicle and then began canvassing the area around a nearby residence for possible suspects. Authorities say gunshots were fired a short time later near the residence, and Martin, who had become separated from Hamilton, found the officer with a fatal gunshot wound.

Police said the perpetrator was not located and police are actively searching for possible suspects.

Media are reporting that Hamilton was a 12-year veteran with the Pikeville Police Department.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.