‘They encountered pure hell’

Sheriff: Officers had no warning before shooting

Police who went to a home in a small eastern Kentucky town to investigate an alleged rape ran into a storm of bullets in which three officers died and several others were injured, according to local officials.

One local official described the scene as a “war zone.” Two officers died Thursday and the third died late Friday.

On Friday, the morning after the deadly confrontation, Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt said it appeared the alleged killer, Lance Storz, was laying in wait and that he opened fire on officers without warning.

“They encountered pure hell,” Hunt said. “They had no chance.”

Police had received a complaint Thursday that Storz had assaulted a woman, held her against her will and raped her. The woman had obtained an emergency protection order against Storz and officers were going to serve it at his home in Allen, local officials said.

When Storz shot at the officers it set off an hourslong confrontation.

It was a chaotic, deadly scene. It was “raining bullets,” said County Attorney Keith Bartley, who was there.

Bartley said he could tell from the sounds of the shots that the shooter had more than one gun.

Hunt said one officer had to crawl underneath his cruiser to avoid a barrage of gunfire. The police dog in the back of an officer’s car was killed.

“If that’s not a war zone, I don’t know what is,” Bartley said.

The officers who died Thursday were William Petry, a retired state police officer working as a deputy for the Floyd County Sheriff ’s office, and Ralph Frasure, a captain with the Prestonsburg Police Department.

Officer Jacob Chaffins, with the Prestonsburg police, was critically wounded. The department announced on Facebook Friday that he had died. Of the three other wounded officers, police said one had been released after treatment at a hospital and two others were hospitalized in stable condition.

During the standoff, police made attempts to negotiate with Storz, according to local officials.

Family members also got involved in an effort to get him to surrender.

State police said Storz was eventually taken into custody outside his home.

The woman who sought the protective order against Storz and a child were taken to a shelter, police said.

Storz was arraigned in Floyd County District Court Friday; his bond was set at $10 million.