Kentucky police arrest man wanted for questioning after officer is shot to death

iStock / Thinkstock(PIKEVILLE, Ky.) — Kentucky police have arrested a man who was wanted for questioning relating to the shooting death of a police officer earlier this week.

Pikeville Police Department Officer Scotty Hamilton was shot and killed in the line of duty late Tuesday night in Pike County, Kentucky. Investigators later obtained an arrest warrant for John Russell Hall, 55, of Pikeville, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Investigators want to question Hall about Hamilton’s death, according to a press release from the Kentucky State Police on Thursday morning.

Kentucky State Police arrested Hall without incident around 11 a.m. ET in the Stoney Brook area in the Betsy Layne community of Floyd County, according to officials.

Earlier, when Hall was still at large, police warned he should be considered “armed and dangerous.”

Hamilton and Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Martin were patrolling the Hurricane Creek area in Pike County on Tuesday night when they came across a suspicious vehicle. The officers spoke with the people inside the car and then assessed the area around a nearby residence for other possible subjects, according to police.

Hamilton and Martin were separated while canvassing the area. Shortly after, Martin heard gunshots and found Hamilton, who had been shot to death. The officer was pronounced dead at the scene by the Pike County Coroner’s Office, police said. He was 35.

Hamilton was a 12-year veteran of the Pikeville Police Department. He leaves behind a wife and a 9-month-old daughter, according to Pikeville’s 911 public safety director Paul Maynard.

The killer was not located at the scene and authorities have been actively searching for possible suspects ever since, police said.

Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.