Russell County Deputy Sheriff Joshua Phipps has been chosen for inclusion to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. His name with be etched onto the Memorial on May 13, 2025. The memorial will be live-streamed.
Deputy Phipps was a dedicated officer and the addition of his name to the Washington DC Memorial is an honor to him and his family, friends and citizens of Russell and Adair counties. His courage, dedication and sacrifice will always be memorialized by the Washington DC memorial, the annual 4-year Lindsey Wilson College Scholarship for degrees targeting servitude and community support, the ACHS scholarship, and the Jamestown, KY Joshua Phipps Memorial.
Deputy Phipps' end of watch was on September 16, 2024 at 5:27pmCT. He had responded for backup after a repeat offender, Joshua Arnold, shot at a KSP Trooper and fled on foot toward a wooded area. Joshua Arnold was a repeat felon who had purchased an illegal gun from another felon in Louisville, KY. KSP and Deputy Phipps searched the area on Bluebird Drive in Russell County for Joshua Arnold. Unfortunately, the felon was hidden and ambushed Deputy Phipps. Autopsy reports verify all the bullets taken from Deputy Phipps body were all from the gun Joshua Arnold illegally obtained.
KSP Troopers located the person who sold the firearm to Arnold. Shawn Keys admitted selling a stolen gun to a known and repeat felony offender. Keys will be sentenced on February 25, 2025 in Federal Court in Bowling Green, KY. The maximum sentence for selling a known felon a stolen gun is 5-15 years.
