A Kentucky man accused of shooting three officers and a police K-9 during a shootout last June in a small Appalachian town has been found dead in his jail cell.
50-year-old Lance Storz appeared in a Floyd Circuit Court in August 2022 where he pleaded not guilty to 20 charges, including three counts of murder of a police officer and six counts of attempted murder of an officer.
He was also indicted on seven counts of wanton endangerment, three counts of assault and one count of assaulting a service animal.
Storz was found dead of an apparent suicide Tuesday morning at the Pike County Detention Center, where he was being held on three murder charges, Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt said Tuesday.
“I have a deputy who’s wounded for life, and I’m sure he wanted the chance to look this guy in the eye in court, and he’s been cheated of that,” Hunt said.
In June 2022, officers were attempting to serve a court-issued domestic violence warrant on Storz at his home in Allen County when he barricaded himself in a home and began shooting. Hunt described the scene as a “war zone” during the hours-long standoff before Storz surrendered.
The shooting was one of the deadliest for law enforcement officers in Kentucky’s history. Officials said it was the most law enforcement deaths in a single incident since a 1923 prison riot left three officers dead.
One of Hunt’s deputies, William Petry, was killed when Storz opened fire on officers without warning. Prestonsburg Police Capt. Ralph Frasure was also killed, and Prestonsburg officer Jacob Chaffins died the next day of gunshot wounds. Four other officers were wounded.
In the days leading up to the shootout, Storz was accused of holding a woman hostage inside his home.
All three officers and the K-9 were laid to rest in Prestonsburg.
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