Commander Robert Stack

Many of the police procedures that are followed after a shooting incident came about years after Commander Robert Stack's encounter with Billy Boggs on the night of December 14, 1988.
 
Lexington Police Commander Robert Stack was a third shift patrol officer back in 1988, working out of the Maxwell and Merino Streets Roll Call.  December 14 of that year is a night that he will always vividly remember.
 
Commander Stack was on his way to work at about 9:30 p.m.  He heard a call go out regarding a disorder on Euclid Avenue in which a suspect had assaulted his sister.  

Billy Boggs - Then	Billy Boggs - Now

This same suspect was thought to have been involved in an earlier shooting incident on the Cleveland Pike overpass of Interstate 64.  A trucker had been shot in the leg by a sniper on the overpass.  Many police units were looking for the suspect's truck.
 
Officer Stan Salyards located the suspect's truck on High Street and followed it outbound to Tates Creek Road. Commander Stack, even though he was on his way to roll call, joined Officer Salyards near Alumni Drive.  The two officers coordinated their felony vehicle stop over CB radios, and then stopped the truck on the outer loop entrance ramp at Tates Creek and New Circle Roads.
 
The truck matched the description given at the Euclid Avenue incident.  The officers ordered the driver to get out of the truck.  He was slow to respond.  The driver's name was Billy Boggs.  When Boggs did appear, he was holding a .22 caliber rifle.
 
The officers, who had by now drawn their revolvers, ordered him to drop his weapon.  He did not comply.  The officers again commanded him to put down the rifle, but Boggs instead raised his weapon and opened fire.
 
The two officers fired at Boggs as he fired on them.  He hit a police cruiser.  Boggs was struck three times by the officers' bullets and was hospitalized for several weeks.
 
Billy Boggs was arrested and charged with Wanton Endangerment in the First Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, and Assault in the Third Degree.  He was tried by a Fayette County Jury and sentenced in January 1990 to serve 10 years in prison.

It was determined that Boggs suffered from mental illness and was very paranoid about the government and police officers. 

 

Boggs was again sent to prison in July 2000 for Possession of a Handgun by a Felon, Wanton Endangerment Second Degree, and Terroristic Threatening.  
Today, when a police officer is involved in a shooting incident, there are many protocols that are in place.  A "POST Team" (Police Officer Support Team) is dispatched to help the officer.  Their role is to provide support and information for the involved officer and for his or her family. They are specially trained to work with officers after such an incident and help them cope with the feelings and emotional reactions following a critical incident.

 

Commander Stack feels the department handled his situation well, but would have benefited from the training and POST assistance in 1988.
 
Additionally, Commander Stack's wife was contacted by the media in connection with the shooting shortly after it occurred.  They called so quickly that she knew nothing about the shooting, or about the status of her husband.  Now, the police contact family members as quickly as possible in order to avoid that very scenario.
 
A police-involved shooting is termed to be a "critical incident" by the police department.  Anytime there is a critical incident, the involved officer is placed on administrative leave automatically until the conclusion of the investigation.  Back in 1988, the officers were interviewed for the investigation and were back at work the following day.
 
Cases like these made changes and helped develop the protocol that the police use to this day when an officer is forced to use his or her handgun.  Never forget that police officers in our community risk their lives every day in the line of duty.