A multi-hour manhunt Friday resulted in the arrest of a suspect in the death of West Virginia State Police Sgt. Cory Maynard.
Maynard was shot at about 3 p.m. after responding to a “shots fired” call in what police have termed an ambush-type incident in the Beech Creek area, according to WSAZ-TV.
Timothy Kennedy, 29, was arrested Friday at about 10 p.m. and arraigned Saturday on a charge of first-degree murder, according to the New York Post.
Kennedy was arrested after driving into a state police command post set up after the incident.
“We received word there was a stolen vehicle nearby the area where we last had contact with him,” State Police Lt. Colonel B.L. Mankins said, according to WSAZ-TV.
“As fate would have it, the stolen vehicle came toward our command post at a high rate of speed. When he got to the command post, the troopers on scene determined it was the suspect in the shooting earlier today, and he was taken into custody at that point,” he said.
Here is an updated photo of West Virginia State Police Sgt. Cory Maynard just sent to @WVVA by WVSP. Trooper Maynard was shot and killed in an ambush-style attack Friday after responding to a call for shots fired near Matewan in Mingo County, https://t.co/rymltV3dUT pic.twitter.com/SQpKK2Vmc0
— Melinda Zosh (@mzoshWVVA) June 3, 2023
Benjamin Adam Baldwin, 39, of Matewan, was wounded in the Friday shooting, according to the Post.
“I heard two shots, and by the time I got through my house, the boy who was shot was knocking on my door telling me to let him in and get him some help because he’d been shot,” neighbor Doris Artis said, according to WSAZ.
Beech Creek resident Harriet Cisco said Kennedy appeared at her door. She said she called police but by the time she returned to the door, he and one of their cars were both gone.
“We called (the police) back later when we realized the car was gone and that he was in the car and we gave them the description of the car,” she said.
More than 100 law enforcement officers participated in the search, which also included a West Virginia State Police helicopter, according to WCHS-TV.
Maynard earned a state police lifesaving award in 2015 after he gave first aid to a man who crashed his vehicle during a pursuit and also stabbed himself in the neck, according to the Post.
In a Facebook post reprinted by the Williamson Daily News, Alison Endicott Wilson, an office assistant at the West Virginia State Police’s Williamson office, wrote, “Simply put, he was a TROOPER.”
“He loved his family fiercely and I was honored to be a part of his family. He was an amazing investigator and fought for his victims. He took his cases personally. He was my close friend … my brother … my Sergeant. He loved his Troopers and always went out and took calls with them. My heart is shattered and broken. I’ll always carry Cory with me,” she wrote.
“This is hard for me, but in this instance I want to say it. He was a man that loved being a Trooper, who was in love with his family … just a great, great friend. He was stolen from us. West Virginia lost a great protector,” she said later
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Logan County Magistrate Dwight Williamson said Maynard “was just always super nice, quick to respond to anything that came up, and he always showed up for court.”
“It’s just terrible, terrible news. These guys put their lives on the line every day and it’s just sad with families. It’s just a terrible thing. I couldn’t do their job and I appreciate the fact that they do what they do,” she said.
Justin Marcum said Maynard “never met a stranger,” according to WOWK-TV.
“If it was a homeless person, if it was an attorney if it was whomever, a school teacher, he also took time to say hi to people,” Marcum said. “His presence in the community as a law enforcement officer and just as a man, it’s going to be dearly missed.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.