DCSO: Mother shot protecting children, adult daughter kidnapped and found dead after police pursuit
DAVIESS CO., Ky. (WFIE) - Two people are dead, including a kidnapping victim and the suspect, after an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night in Daviess County.
Sheriff Brad Youngman says it started around 4:30 p.m. when dispatch received a call advising a man was going to “load up all of his guns and harm himself.”
That man has been identified as 30-year-old Jonathon Severs, of Owensboro.
Ohio Co. Sheriff Adam Wright says once they received that BOLO, they sent several deputies to Severs’ ex-girlfriend’s home on New Cut Road to make sure she was okay.
They say the woman, 37-year-old Tracy Pearce, told them she was fine.
Deputies say Owensboro Police spotted Sever’s car on Fourth Street and later on Highway 54, but he refused to speak to officers when stopped for a welfare check.
“You know, a lot of times we’ll get those observations and we won’t see anything,” said Daviess County Sheriff Brad Youngman. “It did stand out in my mind that this event stood out from the others... because we did see him so many times.”
Later that night, OCSO received their first 911 call that said Severs was inside the New Cut Road home.
About four minutes later, while still speaking with the victims, dispatchers said they could hear gunshots over the phone.
Once on scene, deputies tended to Pearce’s mother, who had been shot several times in the torso and legs. She was flown to a hospital in Louisville where she is stable.
Sheriff Wright says a toddler, a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old were also inside the home at the time, but were not physically hurt.
“They were asking a lot of questions about their mother, obviously,” said Ohio County Sheriff Adam Wright. “As you can imagine, these children have just witnessed their mother being taken forcefully from the house.”
Investigators say Severs abducted Pearce and left the scene.
Sheriff Youngman says around 10 p.m., a deputy also spotted the Severs’ car on Highway 54 near Country Heights Elementary School, but lost sight of him.
About 30 minutes later, deputies reported spotting his car again and began to pursue him.
A few minutes later, they say Severs rammed into a cruiser on Morgantown Road and got out of the car armed with a handgun.
The sheriff says deputies shot and killed Severs after he refused to surrender.
Authorities say Pearce was found dead inside Severs’ car.
They say 4 deputies are now on administrative leave, as is protocol, and they are doing what they can to make sure they are okay as well.
Right now, Kentucky State Police is investigating this incident.
We’ll let you know as soon as we learn more.
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