SUSPECT, WELL KNOWN BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AS CAREER CRIMINAL, SEE HIMSELF CAUGHT WITH STOLEN MOTORCYCLE FLEES ON FOOT THAT ENDED WITH VIOLENT CONFRONTATION
CAREER CRIMINAL SURVIVES BEING SHOT BY TWO POLICE OFFICERS: SHAWN RODNEY GAYHEART, 37, OF SALYERSVILLE, KENTUCKY.
The Kentucky State Police reported a Magoffin County, KY. man is in stable condition after he was shot by a pair of Paintsville Police officers during an early-morning incident on April 26.
According to a statement from the Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville in Pike County, the KSP’s Critical Incident Response Team was requested to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred at approximately 2 A.M. on Sunday, April 26 in Johnson County.
The statement said the preliminary investigation indicates that an officer with the Paintsville Police Department was conducting a foot patrol when he observed a parked motorcycle on Main Street matching the description of one reported stolen earlier.
A short time later, the statement said, the officer encountered Shawn Rodney Gayheart, 37, of Salyersville, KY., who fled on foot for a short distance before the officer caught up with him, and a physical altercation ensued.
The statement said a second Paintsville Police Department officer arrived on the scene to assist, and the officers deployed their tasers to attempt to gain control of Shawn Gayheart, but were unsuccessful.
The officers, according to the statement, then discharged their agency-issued firearms, striking Shawn Gayheart. The two Paintsville Police Department have not been identified at this moment.
The KSP said in their statement that officers immediately rendered medical aid to Shawn Gayheart until emergency medical services responded. KSP said Gayheart was transported to Pikeville Medical Center and remained in stable condition as of the time of the statement.
Officers found a knife and firearm at the scene, the KSP statement said, and that the incident remains under investigation.
“KSP has statewide jurisdiction and investigates officer-involved shootings throughout the commonwealth as requested by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” the statement said. “KSP is committed to being transparent while ensuring the integrity of the investigation. To protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation, it is KSP’s standard operating procedure not to release specific details until vital witnesses have been interviewed and pertinent facts gathered.”
“Timelines for completing investigations vary depending on the complexity of the case,” the KSP statement continued.
Shawn Gayheart is a well known criminal by law enforcement in the local area; as he has been arrested 20 other times since 2007, when he turned 18), on around 60 felony. misdemeanor, and motor traffic violations, including other altercations with law enforcement, as a majority of his arrests have happened in Johnson County, along with other arrests in Casey, Grayson, Grant, Laurel, and Leslie counties.
Shawn Gayheart was released from the Pikeville Medical Center on Monday afternoon, April 27, and he was subsequently transferred to and booked and lodged in the Pike County Detention Center, and was denied any bond to be allowed by District Court Judge, John T. Chaffin.
Shawn Gayheart was charged with following criminal offenses:
*PAROLE VIOLATION,
*CONVICTED FELON IN POSSESSION OF A HANDGUN, *MENACING,
*FLEEING OR EVADING POLICE, 2ND DEGREE (ON FOOT),
*RESISTING ARREST,
*ASSAULT-3RD DEGREE-POLICE/PROBATION OFFICER-IDENTIFIED,
*DEGREE PERSISTENT FELONY OFFENDER – FIRST DEGREE.
