A Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy was fatally shot in the line of duty tonight.
County officials confirmed sheriff’s deputy Josh Phipps was fatally shot in the line of duty this evening.
Sometime between 6 and 6:30 this evening, reports came in of an active shooter in Russell Springs after a shooting occurred near Bluebird Drive.
While Kentucky State Police has not yet released an official statement, WJRS News is told state police attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle near mobile homes on Bluebird Drive when the driver of the vehicle fired a weapon at the trooper.
Details remain unclear at this time, but we’re told Deputy Phipps arrived as backup to the situation, and the shooter fired at Phipps, striking him.
Phipps was taken to Russell County Hospital, where he passed away.
A convoy of local first responders escorted the body of Deputy Phipps to the state medical examiner’s office in Frankfort.
A heavy police presence with several units from Kentucky State Police were on scene on Bluebird Drive. We’re told the shooter was shot by law enforcement, and reports are that he passed away as well.
Reports of a shooter at the Russell Springs City Park were also called in. We spoke to officials with Kentucky State Police on scene on Bluebird Drive tonight. They told WJRS those reports were investigated and there was not a threat to the public.
The reports, however, did cause evacuations from the park with multiple youth sporting events occurring there.
There were reports of multiple shooters at large, but state police officials told WJRS News there was only one shooter.
We’ll provide more details as they are available from the KSP Critical Incident Response Team.
