Third officer confirmed dead from Ky. mass shooting

FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Friday night, WSAZ was getting a first look at a home where a deadly mass shooting happened less than 24 hours ago -- killing three officers and injuring four others in Allen.

We found out late Friday night that Prestonsburg Police Officer Jacob R. Chaffins has died from his injuries. He was a K-9 handler with the department. The city of Prestonsburg released that information on its Facebook page.

The deadly incident happened Thursday along Main Street near the intersection of Railroad Street, also killing a K-9 unit.

Capt. Ralph Frasure with the Prestonsburg Police Department and Deputy William Petry with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department also died in the gunfire. The incident was reported around 6 p.m. Thursday and lasted hours until the suspect was taken into custody around 10 p.m. near the home.

According to Kentucky State Police, Frasure had 39 years of service with the Prestonsburg Police Department. Petry, another law enforcement veteran, had 31 years of total service. He started in 1991 with the Prestonsburg Police Department where he remained until 2005. From 2005 to 2020, he served with KSP and then transferred to the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department.

Lance Storz, 49, of Allen, faces several charges, including two counts of murder of a police officer. He also faces charges in connection with the death of K-9 Drago who served with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department. A not guilty plea was entered on Storz’s behalf during a virtual court hearing.

During an emotional interview at the courthouse Friday, Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt referred to the mass shooting as “planned.” In the barrage of gunfire, some officers were forced to retreat under their cruisers, with at least one suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.

Investigators say officers were attempting to serve an emergency protective order prior to shots being fired. WSAZ also found out more details about that order.

Storz is being held in the Pike County Detention Center on a $10 million cash bond.

Gov. Andy Beshear tweeted the following statement earlier Friday before news of Officer Chaffins’ death:

Investigators cleared the scene of the fatal shooting in Allen around 9 p.m. Friday, and for the first time we heard from neighbors who were in the middle of the chaos.

Several neighbors say Lance Storz had moved into his home a little more than a year ago, and they say he seemed like a friendly, helpful neighbor.

The woman who lives across the street said she felt comfortable letting him watch her grandkids.

They say this development of officers being shot and killed came as a complete shock, and the attack on police has left them baffled.

A neighbor says when she first heard the shots, she thought someone was setting off fireworks, and it wasn’t until she started getting messages on her phone that she realized police were being shot at near her house.

Larry Short lives on the street and agrees Storz had been an ideal neighbor prior to this carnage.

Short wasn’t home when the shooting happened but had gotten messages about it. He says before the situation had been resolved, Storz called him from his home.

”I said ‘I hear you’re shooting cops, you’re killing people, why are you doing that?’” Short said. “He wouldn’t tell me why. He did make the comment, ‘Well, you wouldn’t understand.’ Well, no, I don’t understand. That’s for sure. I told him to quit shooting and give yourself up. I don’t want to see you die.”

Another neighbor says she witnessed Storz using the butt of a gun to bust out a window in the front of his house and start firing out the window.

She says she gathered her family, including grandchildren, toward the middle of their house away from windows to try to stay safe.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.

For earlier coverage:

Captain, deputy killed during violent standoff in Floyd County, Ky.

Copyright 2022 WSAZ. All rights reserved.