Police confirm man killed himself as chase ended at E. Stephen Foster, US62 intersection

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, 11 a.m. (UPDATED 1 p.m.)– Bardstown Police have confirmed that the man involved in a police pursuit killed himself Friday morning as the pursuit ended in a crash at the intersection of East Stephen Foster and Bloomfield Road

At about 8:50 a.m. Friday, a woman on North Third Street called Nelson County Dispatch and reported she was being followed by a man whom she had taken out a protective order against on Thursday. She told dispatchers the man was trying to run her off the road. The woman was advised to drive to the Bardstown Police Department if the man continued to follow her. On the way there, she told dispatchers the man pulled next to her and brandished a handgun.

Officers caught up with the subject at the intersection of East John Rowan and Bloomfield Road. The man fled fled police, turning south in his car on Bloomfield Road with police in pursuit. The pursuit ended when the man’s car crashed into a semi tractor-trailer at the intersection of East Stephen Foster and Bloomfield Road and the car skidded off the roadway onto the state park golf course.

Officer knew the suspect was armed and they set up a perimeter and attempted to communicate with man. After getting no response from the man, police fired non-lethal “bean bag” rounds in an attempt to get a response from the man. Officers approached the vehicle and found the suspect laying across the front seat dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Nelson County Coroner was called to scene.

During the pursuit, the suspect allegedly fired shots at the woman’s vehicle he was pursuing, breaking out windows of her vehicle. Her car stopped at Anything and More store on Bloomfield Road.

East Stephen Foster was closed while police worked the crime scene. The investigation is ongoing. Bardstown Police are being assisted by the Kentucky State Police and Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.

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