Johnson man charged in shooting out of hospital, in jail

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

PAINTSVILLE — A Sitka man involved in a shooting incident Aug. 18 in which he was shot multiple times and an officer was also injured is now in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Johnson County after being hospitalized for several days.

Paul Wesley Tipton, 33, of Sitka, is charged with first-degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle and third-degree assault of a police officer or probation officer.

On Aug. 18, at approximately 8:50 p.m., Paintsville police initiated a traffic stop in Paintsville that led to an officer being shot and the perpetrator being shot multiple times.

According to a release issued by Johnson County Sheriff Doug Saylor, the traffic stop was initiated against Tipton within the city limits of Paintsville.

The attempted traffic stop was initiated on Rt. 321, and continued on to US 23, then onto Rt. 201, where Kentucky State Police and Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Hutchinson joined in the low-speed pursuit in a support capacity, the release said.

The pursuit continued on Rt. 201 and ended approximately one mile inside Lawrence County, where Tipton eventually stopped, the release said.

When approached, during an exchange of gunfire, Hutchinson was struck on the right side of his forehead and was immediately placed in a POV and transported to meet with Paintsville EMS and then directly to Pikeville Medical Center, the release said.

Tipton was shot multiple times and later transported to Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa before being transferred to Pikeville Medical Center and later to UK Medical Center.

The incident is being investigated by KSP Post 14 in Ashland.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the multiple responding agencies that assisted in expediting the transfer of Deputy Hutchinson to receive the much needed medical attention,” Saylor said in the release.