Funeral arrangements set for KSP Trooper Joseph Ponder

LYON COUNTY (WTVQ) –  Kentucky State Police are mourning the loss of yet another trooper killed in the line of duty this year.

Funeral arrangements are set for Trooper  Joseph Ponder, who was fatally shot Sunday during a traffic stop.

Ponder is the second Kentucky State trooper to die in the line of duty this year. Investigators say the trooper pulled over a car with several travelers including small children to help them. Authorities say the driver, Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks was driving with a suspended license and the trooper was arranging for lodging, but Johnson-Shanks drove off.

Authorities say  the suspect eventually fired shots into Ponder’s cruiser and killed him during a second traffic stop in Western Kentucky. Ponder was  31-years-old.

“Trooper Ponder graduated in January 2015 from our state police academy,” said Trooper Jay Thomas of Kentucky State Police. “He had not quite a year on him with us and he was just an excellent trooper.”

Funerals arrangements were announced by the Coffey & Chism Funeral Home.

Visitation is Thursday (9/17) from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff.

The Funeral service is on Friday (9/18) at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown.

Burial services begin at 2 p.m. Friday (9/18) at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff.