MARCH 6, 2018
Hazard KY News | WYMT
Update: Suspect identified in Johnson County standoff
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) – Johnson County Sheriff Dwayne Price tells WYMT one man is dead after a standoff with police in Johnson County.
The incident began Monday evening when deputies were called to a home on Route 845 off of Highway 460, to check out someone in a front yard acting suspiciously. Officers say a man was walking around, holding a Bible, and looking up at the sky.
The man, who has been identified as Stephen Dalton of Oil Springs, started to argue and try to fight with a deputy. Deputies tased Dalton, but he got away and ran into the house.
Deputies say they then heard several gunshots after Dalton ran into the house so they called Kentucky State Police for backup.
When KSP arrived, a shootout between Dalton and police began.
A special response team was then called to the scene. They eventually sent a robot into the home after he didn’t respond to officers.
That’s when they discovered that Dalton was dead.
Investigators say it’s too early to know if Dalton died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if he was shot in the standoff.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
Original story on Kentucky.com…
A standoff between an armed man and police resulted in a shooting death Tuesday morning in Johnson County, according to media reports.
The standoff started around 7 p.m. Monday in Oil Springs on Ky. 825, according to EKB News.
A man was holding a Bible, shouting at the sky and became combative with a deputy after the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department arrived, WKYT reported. A deputy deployed a taser to detain the individual but he broke loose from it, according to WSIP.
The man then ran and locked himself inside his home, which is when Kentucky State Police arrived to join deputies, EKB News reported.
Both deputies heard gunshots coming from inside the residence, WSIP reported. Family members of the man told the sheriff that he had several firearms in the house, including an assault rifle, WSIP said.
A shootout began around 11 p.m. when the man pointed a gun out the door, shooting at the trooper’s cruisers before the troopers returned fire, EKB News said.
No officers were hit, but they didn’t hear from the suspect for a couple of hours after the shots were fired, according to EKB News.
KSP called for backup from their Special Response Team, which sent a robot into the home and found the man dead, WKYT reported.
It’s too early to know if the man shot himself or if he was shot by police, WKYT said. The man’s name has not been released.
By Mike Stunson
Lexington Herald-Leader
