BARDSTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — May 25th marks 10 years since Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis was killed in a surprise attack on his way home from work.
The news shocked Kentucky then. 10 years later, friends and colleagues say it’s still hard to accept.
“I remember getting that phone call that morning,” said Joedy Gilliland, a former colleague and friend of Ellis. “It was awful. It was three in the morning when we got the call.”
That call described a calculated ambush. Officer Ellis was driving home from work when he stopped to clear some brush from the road. A moment later he would be shot and killed.
“For someone to be waiting there to ambush him…there are no words for that, other than evil,” said Bardstown Chief of Police Kim Kraeszig.
Now a decade into the investigation, no arrest has been made in the murder of Ellis. The reward is now nearly $250,000.
“The individual or individuals that are responsible for Jason's death, I hope the weight of the burden they carry gets heavier and heavier every day,” said Kraeszig.
To balance the frustration, colleagues hold onto memories.
“We try to keep his spirit alive. He is Bardstown Police. That's why you see memorials sitting outside and inside because we never want to forget that he paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Kraeszig.
Ellis’ closest friends describe him as more than a hero in uniform, but a larger-than-life friend, father, and officer.
“That gap will always be there, and yes there will always be more friends, but there will never be another Jason Ellis,” said Gilliland. “He was just one in a million, I cannot describe that man, he's like Paul Bunyan to me...he's a legend.”
