Off-duty Kentucky cop is fatally shot by man impersonating an officer

An off-duty policeman in a small Kentucky town has been shot and killed by a suspect who may have been pretending to be a law enforcement officer.

Kentucky State Police said Hopkinsville officer Phillip Meacham, 38, was shot and was taken to a hospital on Thursday afternoon where he later died. 

The suspect has been identified as 34-year-old James K. Decoursey.

Police said Decoursey fled on foot and then took off in a 1997 white Chevrolet pickup truck with license plate 2070GH.

Suspect James K. Decoursey

Hopkinsville officer Phillip Meacham, 38, was shot and killed in Kentucky on Thursday by 34-year-old James K. Decoursey who is believed to have been impersonating a cop

Decoursey may have then changed vehicles and police warn he should be treated as armed and dangerous. 

The victim was in his personal car when he is believed to have been pulled over and shot by the suspect. 

Police would not elaborate on how or why Decoursey was impersonating a police officer.   

A Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter is aiding in the search for Decoursey, as well as multiple other police agencies. 

The victim was in his personal car when he is believed to have been pulled over and shot by the suspect in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on Thursday. Pictured above is the crime scene

The victim was in his personal car when he is believed to have been pulled over and shot by the suspect in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on Thursday. Pictured above is the crime scene

Meacham, who was married and had two school-age children, had been with the Hopkinsville department since May 2017.

Police said Decoursey (pictured in a prior mugshot) fled on foot and then took off in a 1997 white Chevrolet pickup truck with license plate 2070GH

Police said Decoursey (pictured in a prior mugshot) fled on foot and then took off in a 1997 white Chevrolet pickup truck with license plate 2070GH

Prior to that he worked for about 14 years with the Christian County Sheriff’s Department.

‘I just want to ask everybody for their thoughts and prayers for the family. Also for the men and women that are out there trying to find this criminal and bring him to justice,’ Hopkinsville Police Chief Clayton Sumner said. 

He said mental health professionals and chaplains had been brought in to help Meacham’s co-workers.  

Sumner also said he spoke briefly to the slain officer’s widow telling her two things: ‘We will find him’ and ‘I’m sorry.’  

Gov. Matt Bevin announced the officer’s death on Twitter.

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

A Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter is aiding in the search for Decoursey, as well as multiple other police agencies

A Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter is aiding in the search for Decoursey, as well as multiple other police agencies



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk