A manhunt is underway after a Bullitt County man whose trailer was being stolen was shot and killed by the thieves.
The Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office said that Saturday morning at approximately 3:15 local time, police were alerted to an enclosed trailer theft in progress on Woodsdale Road, about 10 miles southeast of Shepherdsville.
Upon arriving in the area, a deputy spotted a white 1999 Dodge Ram truck with the stolen trailer that had crashed head-on into a tree on Cedar Grove Road, the sheriff’s office said. The victim of the theft, Kevin Watts, 42, had pursued the suspects and struck the trailer when the suspects crashed into the tree. The suspects then fled the scene, apparently on foot.
The deputy quickly discovered that Watts had been shot. Police and EMS personnel performed life-saving measure on Watts, but he succumbed to the gunshot wound.
Police said the assailants are believed to be two males who are likely suffering from injuries “consistent with a head-on automobile collision.”
During the investigation, deputies found that the Dodge Ram truck the suspects were driving was reported stolen out of Casey County on Monday, January 17. The license plate on the truck had been stolen off a Dodge Dakota truck in Jefferson County on January 12, police said.
“These assailants are operating in an area of five counties or more,” the sheriff’s office noted.
The suspects, police said, should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.
Anyone with information on this murder is asked to contact the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office at 502-543-2514.
(Photo: Kevin Watts, courtesy of WKYT.com)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
