CUMBERLAND GAP NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
On April 8th, ranger Greg Johnston picked up a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) message about a shooting in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and helped block potential escape routes by cutting off any possible exit via Highway 25E through the park. Johnston saw a vehicle similar to the one described in the BOLO head into the park, then turn around, and confirmed that it was the suspect vehicle after he caught up with it inside the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Middlesboro PD advised him that the driver was armed with a shotgun and was a suspect in a shooting murder. Johnston followed the vehicle into Harrogate, Tennessee, to give backup units time to respond. When a Claiborne County deputy pulled in behind the suspect vehicle, the driver immediately pulled over on his own. Johnston took cover behind the deputy’s patrol car with his rifle and awaited the arrival of other officers. The suspect – identified as Richard Goodman of Middlesboro, Kentucky – was taken into custody without further incident. The murder weapon was found in the vehicle. Due to interagency communications issues, the deputy was not aware that Goodman was armed and wanted for the shooting at the time of the stop. Goodman was transferred to the custody of the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office and held on a warrant for murder pending extradition back to Kentucky.
