Kentuckians react after ‘ambush’ that killed two officers in Floyd Co.
ALLEN, Ky. (WKYT) - A Floyd County man is accused of killing two police officers and shooting six more people during a barricade situation Thursday evening.
Lance Storz was arrested after an hours-long standoff in the Allen community off US 23.
The Floyd County judge-executive said one person is in critical condition. Three were taken to UK hospital in Lexington for surgery. Those three are a constable, EMS director and a deputy. We don’t have word yet on their conditions.
In a town this small, it’s no surprise that it feels like everyone knows someone involved.
There are dozens of Facebook posts talking about the two men who were killed, Captain Ralph Frasure and Deputy William Petry. Prestonsburg High School changed its profile picture in honor of Frasure, who was the school resource officer there.
The principal there told us he’s talked to Frasure’s wife, and she’s doing about as well as can be expected. He said Frasure retired, and then came back and was working as a school resource officer and was recently promoted to captain.
Looking at how many students had changed their profile pictures on Facebook to that of their SRO, it was obvious how they felt about him.
“A phenomenal human being. An advocate for our students. The relationship and the rapport that he built with our students and our faculty here at the high school is irreplaceable,” Principal Ricky Thacker said.
Principal Thacker said Frasure had a daughter who went to Prestonsburg High. He said this fall it’s going to be really tough when school starts back up and he isn’t around.
A scene like this one is impacting a lot of people, including a woman who works at a business just across the street. She told us Storz would come in with his wife and daughter occasionally, and she never had any kind of strange interactions with him. So when she heard what happened Thursday night, she was in shock.
She said it’s been hard on everyone in Allen.
“I don’t think they’re handling this very well. I know I’m not. I started not to open the store today because it’s just too sad. Seeing all going on today,” said Janice DeBoard, the owner of Past Times Antiques.
She said despite being open for a couple of hours so far, our crew were the only ones who have gone into her store today.
People who live and work around the scene of the shooting told us they still can’t make sense of what happened.
“Finishing up dinner and I heard the gun shots. My son asked me, ‘mom was that fireworks?’ I said, ‘no, that’s gunshots.’ And then we just came to the door,” neighbor Tammy Conn said.
Conn said she kept hearing gunshots for several hours.
We’ve also seen many reactions from state officials and departments following the tragic shooting:
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky and U.S. Attorney Shier released this statement:
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky is aware of the Floyd County shooting incident involving law enforcement, which occurred late yesterday and into the early morning hours of today. As the investigation of this incident progresses, we stand with our local and state law enforcement partners. We are offering our support and our federal resources to assist them in their investigation of this shooting. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic event, especially the family members, friends, and colleagues of the law enforcement and first responders lost or injured.”
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