TROOPER SHOT IN CLINTON; Murder/Suicide Follows

A veteran Kentucky State Trooper from the Columbia KSP Post was shot and wounded Thursday afternoon in confrontation with a Clinton County man who had taken his ex-wife by force and fled with her to a camp in a wooded area on the Cumberland River near Wolf Creek dam.
The officer, Det. Jeff Vincent, was shot in the leg when he and three other officers came upon the camp in the Wells Bottom area of Clinton County. Det. Vincent was taken to the Clinton County Hospital and later flown to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he underwent surgery.
The bodies of the suspected shooter, 49-year-old Terry Sawyers of Albany, and his ex-wife, 43-year-old Teresa Sawyers, were found several hours later near the site. Terry Sawyers apparently killed his ex-wife then took his own life.
According to Kentucky State Police spokesman Trooper Todd Holder, the situation that led to the shooting began unfolding on Wednesday, when the Clinton  County Sheriff’s Department reported that Teresa Sawyers had been reported missing and may have been taken by force by her ex-husband Terry Sawyers.
Around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, officers from the KSP Post in Columbia received information that Teresa Sawyers might be being held in the Wells Bottom area.
A couple of hours later, at 12:30 p.m., Det. Vincent and three other officers arrived in the area and began searching.
Around 2:30 p.m. the officers came upon Terry Sawyers vehicle in the woods. It had been camouflaged with cut cedar trees. Trooper Holder said that after the officers discovered the vehicle, they attempted to leave the scene and wait for additional officers to arrive.
“As they were backing out and leaving the scene, the suspect began firing at them,” he explained. “The troopers exited their vehicles and returned fire, and Det. Vincent was shot.”
Holder said that Vincent, who was driving a Ford Explorer, was standing behind the open door of the Explorer when a  shot struck him in the leg.
A large number of officers from various law enforcement agencies – state policemen, including a KSP Special Response Team, Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department, Russell County Sheriff’s Department,Albany Police Department, Burkesville Police Department, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, and the Kentucky National Guard,  which brought in a helicopter – responded to the scene, and surrounded the area around the campsite that Terry Sawyers had established, setting up a perimeter to prevent his escape.
Just before midnight Thursday, offices with the KSP Special Response Team located the bodies of a male and female in the vicinity of the campsite. The Clinton County Coroner identified the bodies as Teresa Sawyers and Terry Sawyers.
The investigation revealed that Terry Sawyers had established a well-provisioned campsite. At the campsite, state police detectives located three high powered rifles with scopes, an AK-47 assault rifle with combat loaded magazines, approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition, night-vision goggles, a large supply of food, several propane tanks and coolers.
The victims’ bodies were sent to the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s office for autopsies. Preliminary results indicate that Teresa Sawyers died from multiple gunshot wounds and Terry Sawyers died from an apparent single self-inflicted gunshot wound. There is no evidence to indicate that either Terry or Teresa Sawyers were struck by any rounds from units of the state police.
Det. Vincent, a 19-year veteran of the State Police and a life-long resident of Clinton County, was released from the hospital on Sunday and is expected to make a full recovery from his injury.
“It was a tragic end to the situation,” Trooper Holder said. “But, the state police were successful in the fact that no more violence spilled over into the community and no other officers were injured.”
Det. Vincent is the first officer from the Columbia State Police Post to be injured in the line of duty since 2005. Trooper Andy Olson was shot on May 31, 2005 while responded to a situation in Metcalfe County.