INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Floyd Ray Cook: Kentucky Fugitive Dies In Shootout Following Manhunt

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 03:40 PST, Oct 30, 2015

Floyd Ray Cook, a convicted rapist and fugitive, died overnight in a shootout following a week-long manhunt, Kentucky State Police reported on Friday, October 30.

According to the Fox News, Floyd Ray Cook had been on the run since Saturday, October 24 after he shot and wounded Algood, Tennessee police officer Ahscari Valencia during a traffic stop. The authorities said two troopers and a U.S. Marshal responded to shots that were fired near an embankment on Kentucky Route 61 in Burkesville, Kentucky. When the officers arrived, shots were exchanged between the police and Cook, resulting in Cook’s death. The Cumberland County Coroner pronounced Cook dead at the scene of the shootout. No officers were injured in the shooting.

Police had been searching for Floyd Ray Cook since he shot the officer last Saturday. According to the Associated Press, Floyd fled the scene in a black Ford truck. Approximately an hour later, an officer recognized Floyd’s truck and attempted to stop him in Cumberland County, just beyond the Tennessee state line. Cook tried to speed away, but he wrecked the truck and took off by foot into the woods. That is when the manhunt was launched, and Kentucky and Tennessee police started searching for the man who was considered “armed, dangerous and desperate.” Public alerts were sent out to people in the area, and Cumberland County schools were closed for three days for fear that the children might come in contact with Cook.

“We’re not accustomed to having manhunts in our small, rural town,” Superintendent Biggerstaff said earlier this week. “So we definitely are a little bit unsettled, and we want to make sure that we’re keeping students as safe as possible.”

“He’s as dangerous as they come,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory said at the time. “I would say anyone that has any contact with him is in danger.”

Now that Cook is no longer an issue, residents can go back to their normal lives without fear of crossing Cook’s path.

“I think they’ll all breathe a little bit easier, knowing there’s no longer a threat,” Gregory said on Friday.

Cook had a long police record, which included a series of charges including rape, assault, rioting, robbery, and burglary. In 1970, Floyd was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old Marion County woman. As part of his sentence, he was required to register on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life. According to Sheriff Jimmy Clements, Cook had an open warrant out for his arrest in Marion County, Kentucky, for failing to comply with the sex offender registry. He was also wanted in Hardin County on an indictment charging him with trafficking methamphetamine and tampering with evidence. He had an arraignment scheduled in August, however, he did not show.

Cook had listed his home address as a home in Lebanon, Kentucky, according to a previous report by the Inquisitr. When a routine check of sex offenders’ homes took place, they discovered that Cook no longer lived at that address. Due to the violation, another warrant was issued for Cook’s arrest. The authorities later discovered his actual location to be in the small town of Raywick, Kentucky.

Katy McCarty, 35, and her boyfriend, 50-year-old Troy Wayne, both known associates of Cook, were found and arrested. They are currently being held as fugitives.

[Photo via Twitter]

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