A Bardstown police officer was killed early Saturday, shot multiple times with a shotgun while apparently on his way home from work, officials said. The killer was still at large hours later.
Officer Jason Ellis, 33, of Chaplin, was a seven-year veteran with the Bardstown Police Department, said Master Trooper Norman Chaffins, a spokesman for Kentucky State Police.
While police did not have a suspect, they were processing evidence from the scene, Chaffins said. He declined to disclose what kind of evidence police had, or where Ellis had been shot.
Nelson County Coroner Rayfield Houghlin said Ellis was shot “multiple times” with a 12-gauge shotgun. His service weapon was still in its holster, suggesting Ellis was ambushed, Houghlin said.
Ellis is survived by his wife and two sons.
According to Bardstown Mayor Bill Sheckles, Ellis was the first Bardstown officer slain in the line of duty. Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.
State police received a call at 2:53 a.m. reporting an accident involving a Bardstown police officer on the Exit 34 ramp from the Blue Grass Parkway in Nelson County, Chaffins said. A state trooper arrived by 3:16 a.m. and discovered there was no accident, but found the uniformed officer dead outside a police vehicle, its emergency lights on, he said.
Ellis was driving home in a “pool car” that was not his assigned vehicle and was not equipped to capture video or audio, nor had he spoken with dispatchers about assisting anyone on the ramp, Chaffins said.
“He was not on an emergency call or anything,” Chaffins said. “We are not sure why he stopped.”
Detectives have interviewed passers-by who came upon the scene but did not witness the shooting, Chaffins said.
Ellis, the Bardstown police K-9 officer, did not have his dog with him at the time, Chaffins said. The exit ramp where Ellis was found was closed for much of the day while officers investigated.
A motorcade of about 50 cars from various agencies escorted the officer’s body to the medical examiner’s office in Louisville. Police closed Broadway in Louisville shortly before 11 a.m. as the motorcade drove to the office .
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