Kentucky State Trooper and father of three gunned down by suspect on probation in traffic stop horror

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A Kentucky community is in mourning after a 30-year-old state trooper and father of three was gunned down on the side of a highway during a routine traffic stop Monday afternoon.

Trooper Hayden Phillips was shot and killed after pulling over a Honda Civic with temporary Alabama license plates on Interstate 65 in Warren County, according to Kentucky State Police Commissioner Col. Phillip Burnett Jr. Phillips, a three-year veteran of the state police based in Bowling Green, was a devoted husband and father who previously served as a police officer, firefighter, and paramedic.

Following a high-speed manhunt, law enforcement officers arrested 51-year-old suspect Emonnie Branch nearly 100 miles away in Louisville after deploying a vehicle grappler device to disable his car.

Branch, a resident of Portland, Tennessee, was out on supervised probation following a five-year prison stint for fraud. Court records show he boasts an extensive rap sheet including charges for theft, money laundering, domestic assault on a juvenile, witness coercion, and drug possession. He will be extradited back to Warren County to face murder charges.

U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner slammed the killing as "the most heinous crime that can be committed in our commonwealth," while Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear hailed Phillips as a hero who dedicated his life to public service. On Monday evening, more than 100 first responders gathered at the Russell Springs Fire Department to honor their fallen colleague.

“This is among, if not among, it is the most heinous crime that can be committed in our commonwealth,” Bumgarner said. “One of our own was gunned down and murdered on the side of the road.”

Kentucky Gov. Beshear called Phillips “a hero who dedicated himself to protecting our commonwealth.”

On Monday evening, more than 100 first responders gathered at the Russell Springs Fire Department to pay tribute to Phillips.