KSP Troooper mistook beer can for handgun
A Phelps man was killed early Sunday morning after an officer-involved shooting incident.
According to a statement released by the Kentucky State Police, the agency responded early Sunday to an assault complaint in the Phelps community which led them to a residence at Phillips Branch Road.
After making contact with Lacy Wolford, 40, and John Casey, 32, both of Phelps, the statement said, it was determined that both men had active warrants. Both, the statement said, fled the scene.
Casey was contacted by a trooper, according to the statement, and made threats before striking the trooper in the face with a rock, causing injury.
The statement said that Casey then retrieved a silver object from his pocket, and the trooper responded to this action by firing his weapon.
Casey, the statement said, was struck by gunfire and suffered fatal injuries from the gunshot wound. Casey was pronounced dead at the scene by Pike County Deputy Coroner Ernie Casebolt.
The statement said that, during the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the silver object Casey attempted to retrieve from his pocket during the incident was a beer can.
Wolford was later located and lodged in the Pike County Detention Center on various charges, the statement said.
The incident remains under investigation by KSP Lt. James Catron.
Appalachian News-Express
