On the morning of May 25, 2013, Bardstown, Kentucky police officer Jason Ellis, 33, was ambushed and killed while returning home from his shift. As he took the exit 34 ramp off the Bluegrass Parkway he stopped his marked cruiser to clear tree branches that had been placed in the roadway. While attempting to remove the debris, an assailant fired multiple times with a 12-gauge shotgun from a nearby hill. Ellis died at the scene; a passing motorist discovered the body and summoned help.

Kentucky State Police and the FBI have conducted an intensive, ongoing investigation. No arrests or publicly identified suspects have been announced. Ellis is described as a husband and father of two young sons; a reward has been posted for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

If anyone has information about the trap on the exit 34 ramp, who might have placed the branches, or who could have been in the area that night, please come forward.