Following Tuesday’s deadly police chase that began with Kentucky State Police in Lyon County and ended in Cadiz, Trigg County Sheriff’s Deputy Zachary White is expected to make a full recovery.
White is a Calloway County native, a March 2021 graduate of Kentucky’s Department of Criminal Justice Training Police Academy with previous stops at the Murray Police Department and Calloway County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Aaron Acree visited with him Wednesday morning — as he continues receiving medical attention at an undisclosed medical facility in Nashville, Tennessee.
White took two gunshot wounds to the chest, and one fully through an arm. Acree said, as of now, those fragments will remain inside White, since it will cause more trauma to remove them. If they surface, they will be extricated.
Acree said the care for White, thus far, has been tremendous — both internally and externally.
Recently promoted to sergeant, Acree said White is actually looking to “get back on the road soon,” and that he has displayed “enormous amount of leadership” within the agency, over the operations division at the office.
Due to the nature of a state police investigation, Acree said couldn’t share major details about the incident.
However, he reflected that local law enforcement was notified Tuesday afternoon of the arrival of a vehicle driven by Florissant, Missouri, resident 21-year-old Jermaine Jackson Jr. — moving at speeds between 100 and 120 miles per hour eastbound along I-24.
From there, Acree said Jackson Jr. navigated off of the exit — before nearly over-correcting.
Jackson Jr. then fled on foot, and as the Trigg County Sheriff’s Office went for the intercept, Acree said they were fired upon as a staff.
Return fire killed Jackson Jr., while White was transported by the sheriff’s department to Trigg County Hospital before being flown into Tennessee.
Acree said at least five of his units were involved in the call from state police, and that at this time, he and his deputies have “no indication” as to why Jackson Jr. opened fire, or even left a Lyon County stop in the first place.
Also according to Acree, White was not wearing a bulletproof vest, because he had arrived on scene in an assist capacity having been working on automotive detail all day. Because White was not in uniform, he was not wearing his body camera, but Acree added that other body camera footage from his department has been turned over to authorities.
A mutual aid agreement allowed for response from other counties, and Acree affirmed that I-24 can — at times — be a uniquely dangerous place.
Acree said there was “no indication” that there was going to be an exchange of gunfire in this pursuit.
As Acree said, this is the second shooting aimed at police in Trigg County in the past decade. State Trooper Cameron Ponder was shot and killed in September of 2015 following a traffic stop and pursuit on I-24. Like Tuesday’s suspect, the person who shot and killed Trooper Ponder was also from Florissant, Missouri, and was killed by police.
Citizens can send cards to White through the sheriff’s office: PO Box 1690, Cadiz, KY, 42211.
