State trooper ‘senselessly murdered’ during traffic stop, officials say

A Kentucky State Police trooper was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop, leading to an intense search that ended in the arrest of a suspect.

Officials said 30-year-old Post 3 Trooper Hayden Phillips pulled a car over on Interstate 65 in Warren County, Kentucky, on Sept. 28 at about 2 p.m. CT. The suspect fired, killing Phillips, and took off. A witness driving by called authorities, officials said at a news conference.

Later in the evening, Emonnie Branch, 51, of Portland, Tennessee, was located in Jefferson County about 125 miles away and arrested by the Louisville Metro Police. Branch faces a charge of murder of a first responder, Col. Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police said.

"Hayden was murdered on the side of the road doing what is routine, doing a traffic stop. He was senselessly murdered," U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky Kyle Bumgarner said.

It wasn't immediately clear if Branch had an attorney who could comment on his behalf. USA TODAY has reached out to the public defender's office serving Warren County.

Phillips, who was with the state police for three years, left behind a wife and three young sons, officials said.

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/