Trooper Hayden Phillips of the Kentucky State Police was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Warren County. His death completes a pattern that no one could have predicted: he is the third graduate of Department of Criminal Justice Training class 506 to be killed in the line of duty. Phillips, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Shirley, and Scott County Deputy Caleb Conley all graduated from the program at Eastern Kentucky University in December 2019, part of a class of 33. Shirley was ambushed in Louisville in 2021. Conley was shot during a traffic stop in Georgetown in 2023.
Brian Shirley, Brandon’s father, told reporters he got chills when he learned Phillips was from the same class. “It’s weird for sure; my first thought the other day was, ‘Man, is that class cursed,’” he said. He plans to connect with Phillips’ family, knowing firsthand what they are facing, and he spoke about grief with a candor that’s hard to forget: “They say time heals all wounds. I don’t know if it gets better or you just get better at dealing with it.”
The suspect in Monday’s shooting, 51-year-old Emonnie Branch of Portland, Tennessee, was arrested in Louisville and charged with murder of a first responder. He had an active warrant for a probation violation in a fraud case at the time of the stop. A judge denied bail at his arraignment Tuesday morning in Warren County. Here on the Suncoast, where so many retired officers and first responder families call this home, the story is a reminder of the people behind the badge. Do you have a connection to law enforcement in your family? We’d like to hear how you handle the worry that comes with the job.
