Kentucky officer killed, police searching for man who fled

HOPKINSVILLE, KY (AP/RNN) - Kentucky State Police say an off-duty city police officer has been fatally shot, and authorities are searching for a man who fled the scene.

State police said in a news release the Hopkinsville officer was shot at about 5:10 p.m. CT on Thursday and was taken to a hospital, where he died. The officer's name wasn't released, pending notification of family.

Police were looking for a man identified as 35-year-old James Kennith Decoursey. The police release said he pulled the off-duty officer over in his personal vehicle, pretending to be a police officer himself, then shot the real officer.

They said he then fled on foot before stealing a 1997 white Chevrolet pickup truck with license plate 2070GH.

Decoursey was described as a white male with black hair and brown eyes, standing 6-1 and weighing 260 pounds. Police advised to consider him armed and dangerous.

Gov. Matt Bevin announced the officer's death on Twitter. "There is no greater sacrifice than that of a person willing to lay down their life for another...," he wrote.

In Frankfort, the state capital, lawmakers in the House stood for a moment of silence after Rep. Walker Wood Thomas of Hopkinsville announced that an officer had been shot.

Hopkinsville is about 73 miles northwest of Nashville, TN.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. Raycom News Network contributed to this report.