Police charge man with murder in shooting deaths of three people in Eastern Kentucky

Kentucky State Police on Monday announced an arrest in the shooting deaths of three people in Paintsville last week.

Ronnie Pack, 21, of Paintsville was arrested on three charges of murder and one charge of first-degree wanton endangerment of a police officer, according to a news release and citation.

State police also identified the three victims as Paula Wells, 56; Richard Morman, 56; and Myrtle Pack, 36, all of Paintsville.

The shootings occurred on Sept. 9 at a residence on Depot Street. Police said the three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

A suspect was identified the same day and taken to a hospital.

Police did not say in the news release or the citation what led to the shootings.

State police said in a separate release Monday that its Critical Incident Response Team had been asked to investigate a trooper-involved shooting in Johnson County that day.

That appeared to be part of the same incident involving the homicides. The release said a man was transported from the scene of the shooting for treatment of injuries.

Pack’s only prior criminal charge as an adult was in February 2020, when he was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place at the University of Pikeville.

An officer said in a citation that when he went to investigate a report of an intoxicated man, university security officers said they found Pack, who was not a student, drunk in the administration building at 2:20 a.m.

The citation said Pack had slurred speech and appeared unsteady, and said he had drunk vodka.