After the death of Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Phipps last week, Kentucky State Police Critical Incident Response Team began investigating what occurred. On Tuesday, they released an update regarding their investigation.
According to the update from the investigation, the incident leading to Phipps’s death began at approximately 5:27 p.m. in Russell County when Trooper Jake Smith from KSP Post 15 initiated a traffic stop in the Russell Springs area. Initially, the vehicle came to a full stop and appeared to be compliant with Smith. However, at a point in the interaction, the subject vehicle accelerated away which led to a vehicle pursuit from Trooper Smith. The release does not state at what point the driver of the vehicle, now identified as Joshua George Arnold, decided to speed off.
Smith pursued the vehicle for a short distance until it came to stop behind a residence on Bluebird Drive. Arnold immediately exited the vehicle and fired a handgun several times in the direction of Trooper Smith. Arnold then fled on foot, leaving his exact whereabouts unknown.
It is after this point that Deputy Phipps arrived when other officers joined Trooper Smith in the search to find Arnold. As part of the search, Deputy Phipps entered a camper trailer. Moments later, officers on scene reported hearing multiple gunshots fired from inside the trailer. When troopers responded to the camper trailer, they stated that Arnold and Phipps had both suffered life-threatening injuries from gunshot wounds. Deputy Phipps and Arnold were both removed from the camper and transported to Russell County Hospital. After arriving, they were pronounced dead.
Several details still remain unknown from this press release, including when a full report will be available and when the investigation will be concluded. The Adair County Community Voice will report on further details as they become available.
