As Eastern Kentucky mourns 3 officers killed in line of duty, questions and grief remain

ALLEN, Ky. — A light mist began to fall Friday afternoon as the bodies of Captain Ralph Frasure and Deputy William Petry were pulled from a Frankfort medical examiner's office closer to their homes in Floyd County. 

More than an hour away from Prestonsburg, squad cars, ambulances and fire trucks dotted intersections along Mountain Parkway and families stood at the edge of their driveways, waiting to pay their respects to the two men killed in the line of duty the night prior. 

As the hearse and ambulance made their way through the mountains, passing under a massive flag hanging above the roadway, men removed their hats and bowed their heads. One woman held a balloon. Another stood behind her husband, unsure of how to comfort a man who'd suddenly lost a friend. 

Before the night's end, the Eastern Kentucky community would be rocked again, as authorities announced a third officer died due to the shootout in the small town of Allen, population 166. 

Floyd County shooting:Third Kentucky police officer dies after shootout while trying to serve warrant

His name was Jacob Chaffins. The youngest of the three men who'd been killed, he'd been an officer with Prestonsburg Police for just two years, serving as a canine handler for the department. He leaves behind a wife and young daughter. News of his death was shared more than 2,000 times in an hour after it was confirmed on social media by the police, and his body was set to be brought home Saturday.

K9 Drago, one of the canines Chaffins handled, also died Thursday in what's been described by authorities as an ambush on officers who were serving a domestic violence warrant. Drago was a German Shepherd — an "amazing boy" who "kicked butt at his job," one tribute post read. 

What happened in Allen, KY shooting? 

Southeast of Prestonsburg, about 15 minutes away, is the tiny town of Allen, where 49-year-old Lance Storz lives along Main Street. When officers arrived at his home, police have said, he greeted them with a barrage of gunfire. 

Kentucky State Police received a call for help just before 7 p.m. Thursday. The shooting would continue for nearly three hours, authorities have said, before Storz was taken into custody. 

Frasure, Petry, Chaffins and K9 Drago were killed. Three other officers and the emergency management director were injured but are recovering. And Floyd County, a small community on the edge of the state near the Virginia and West Virginia border, was shaken.

Storz pleaded not guilty Friday morning in Floyd District Court to two counts of murdering a police officer, five counts of attempted murder of a police officer, one count of attempted murder and one count of first-degree assault of a service animal, court records show. One of those attempted murder charges of a police officer is bound to be upgraded after Chaffins' death.

Storz went before Judge Eric. D. Hall virtually on Friday, with contusions covering his face. He was ordered to remain in custody on a $10 million bond. His next court date is July 11. The case will be transferred to Floyd Circuit Court and could become a capital case.

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KSP troopers, who are leading the investigation into the shootout, are still searching for answers that could explain why the night turned so deadly. 

The emergency domestic violence protective order for Storz's wife was issued Thursday, court records show, which led officers to his home.

Details about the nature of the alleged domestic violence were not immediately available. The Courier Journal could not find any other criminal history for Storz in Kentucky. And state police are searching for answers as well.

"We're trying to figure out what led up to before the active shooting took place," KSP Trooper Matt Gayheart said Friday evening. Several law enforcement officials remained at the scene of the shooting well into the night.

On Saturday morning, what had been a frantic cluster of reporters and officers mixed in with confused community members, was once again a quiet, secluded corner of the world. 

Bullet holes punctured the screens and front door of the Main Street home where the shooting had taken place. Before the mass shooting, it would have looked like any other in Allen, with faded red shutters alongside a hummingbird feeder and wind chime.  At the bottom of the steps in front of the house were plants in owl pots, a flamingo watering bed and chickens in the back yard. 

Across the narrow one-lane street, a minivan in the drive had a license plate that read, 'You've got a friend in Jesus.' 

Honoring William Petry, Ralph Frasure and Jacob Chaffins

More than 24 hours after gunfire erupted, tow trucks would remove at least two police vehicles from the scene — both lined with bullet holes. 

Frasure had served with Prestonsburg Police for just shy of four decades before his life ended in the line of duty.

"For thirty-nine years you served with honor and glory up until the last second when you did not go down without a fight," the department posted. 

Petry, meanwhile, had been a deputy with the Floyd County Sheriff's Department. Both men were resource officers for the county's school district, according to a social media post mourning their deaths. 

Gov. Andy Beshear issued a statement Saturday, calling the date a "hard morning for Kentucky" and urging people across the commonwealth to "stand together in honoring these heroes and their sacrifice, and pray for a full recovery for those injured."

Pikeville is the largest city in the area — population just over 6,000. Prestonsburg's fire department uniforms are taken about 30 minutes down the road, past Allen and into Pikeville, to be dry cleaned. 

The community is small, and signs of grief and shock were visible. 

Josh Hopson was working at the Dollar General in Allen the night of the killings, half a mile up the road from where it happened. 

As more and more police cars zoomed by, customers asked him if he knew what was happening. Not too long after, he said, the store manager called to make sure employees were OK and an officer came in to tell Hopson to lock the store down. 

"We were freaked out, then when we realized who it was we really freaked out," said Hopson, who knows Storz's wife.

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Across the street a banner was attached to a fence – the shape of Kentucky against a black and blue backdrop, with a heart where the community is. 

"It's a nightmare," Roger Rowe, pastor of Old Time Country Church, said Saturday morning. "It really doesn't seem real. This is a small community and these things don't happen here."

His church is just up the road and around the corner from where the officers were fatally wounded.

"We see mass shootings on TV and we'd say we're so blessed to live in a small secluded place like this in the mountains with country people who protect each other," Rowe said. 

In their late 70s, Rowe and his wife Carolyn have spent their whole lives in Floyd County. A former deputy coroner, Rowe said he and Deputy Petry worked together for years. Petry's son and Rowe's grandson will be roommates in college this fall, he said. 

"Up in here about everybody's close," he said. "They're always ready for a helping hand. Anytime there is a tragedy, like a flood, everyone drops what they're doing and gives a helping hand."

It's the type of place where he leaves the church keys in the front door, he said, "so I know where I put them." 

Things are changing, though. 

"The whole world is getting in bad shape," the pastor said. 

Back in Prestonsburg, American flags hung from several light posts, but the annual Independence Day events, including Star City Day, were canceled in the aftermath of the shooting.

In Pike County, the City of Pikeville announced the ‘Independence Day at Pikeville Festival’ was canceled, too, with Mayor Jimmy Carter offering his condolences ahead of what should have been a jubilant weekend.

“Independence Day is a celebration of our highest American values – the very ideals these courageous law enforcement officers gave their lives to protect," Carter said in a statement. "Instead of gathering for the festival, we encourage every Pikeville family to join us in prayer for the fallen officers and humble gratitude for their sacrifice.”

On Friday night, a group of about 10 people gathered outside the Prestonsburg Police Department, where the vehicles of their fallen officers were parked on the front lawn and black and blue bows were placed on their hoods. 

By Saturday morning, the bows were joined by bouquets of flowers. A couple brought rakes to pull up the old dirt and flowers, cleaning up the front of the city's municipal building. 

"It's a small community and not only did we lose a couple of great officers, but we also lost pillars of the community," Trooper Gayheart said. "It's going to take the community rally around to get through it."

A fund has been set up for donations to help the families of police officers killed in a confrontation in Eastern Kentucky and those who were injured.

Donations can be made to the Floyd County Community Foundation at http://bit.ly/FloydCF.

Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.