"Shots fired, shots fired, shots, I'm hit, I'm hit, I need assistance,
I'm passing out," Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Ponder said Sunday night
after several rounds were fired into the police cruiser that would take
his life. Seconds later an unidentified man who pulled over to help the
trooper can be heard telling dispatch: "I really don't know what to say
here. I just pulled over, I heard gun shots. This officer, I don't
think he can breathe well. We're at 1-24 close to Exit 45." Those words
are heard on a 10-minute audio recording of Ponder's last communication
with emergency dispatch. A recent grad of the state police academy,
Ponder, 31, was killed after a traffic stop on Interstate 24 West, just
outside Eddyville, turned into a high speed chase.
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