Clusters of people lined the highway leading from a Baptist church where a slain Kentucky state trooper was eulogized.

He was assigned to a state police post in Mayfield, Ky.

Those plans soon unraveled, with tragic results. They’ve provided little detail so far on events leading up to his death. A Navy veteran, he was a native of Rineyville, Ky., the agency says. Thomas said they were questioned but have not been charged or arrested.

Thomas said he was not sure what initiated the traffic stop.

The suspect was identified as Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Florissant, Mo.

Kentucky State Police found the suspect in a wooded area close to Interstate 24, near where he allegedly shot the trooper, police said.

The trooper, who had been with state police for less than a year, was struck several times and later died in hospital.

A giant US flag hoisted by fire truck ladders is on display as mourners gathered Friday morning for the funeral of Kentucky State Police Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder. The women and children were taken into custody, and the women were interviewed Monday, Thomas said.

Police say Johnson-Shanks was armed with a handgun but ignored several commands to drop the weapon, according to Fox News.

Thomas said an autopsy will be conducted today at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville.

Investigators in Lyon County, Ky., then sent out an alert for the public to be on the lookout for Johnson-Shanks. Ponder’s auto collided with the rear of the suspect’s vehicle.

The driver then leaned out of the auto window and reportedly started firing shots at the police cruiser, hitting the hood, windshield and Trooper Ponder, multiple times. But when he learned that the 25-year-old Johnson-Shanks’ license had been suspended, he contacted a local deputy to arrange for a hotel room so he didn’t have to take the driver back to jail, Thomas said.

Flags at the Mayfield state police post where Ponder was stationed were fluttering at half-staff on Monday afternoon. As flags fluttered at half-staff, prayers were said, and visitors walked around afterward shaking the hands of law enforcement officers who attended. He pointed a gun at troopers and refused to put it down.