On March 29, 2018, 38-year-old Hopkinsville, Kentucky police officer Phillip Meacham was killed while off duty. Meacham saw a vehicle using flashing blue lights and, aware of reports about a possible police impersonator, followed the car and called for a uniformed officer to respond. The vehicle, driven by 34-year-old James K. Decoursey, pulled into a driveway on Paulette Court. When the uniformed officer joined Meacham and they approached Decoursey, he drew a firearm and opened fire, fatally wounding Meacham. Meacham was taken to Jennie Stuart Medical Center, where he died from the gunshot wound.

Decoursey fled on foot, stole a white pickup truck, and sparked a multiagency manhunt that crossed into Tennessee. Later that night he was spotted in a Clarksville parking lot; after refusing repeated commands, officers fired on him and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation took over the officer-involved shooting inquiry while the Kentucky State Police investigated Meacham’s killing.

If anyone has information about Meacham, the events on Paulette Court, or the lead-up to that afternoon, please share what is known.