Police in Kentucky are searching for a man who fled from a police station after using his daughter as an “human shield” when an officer tried to detain him. The man was wearing a T-shirt that bore the words "#1 Dad".
Oficers said that Jonathan Morrow had entered the Johnson County Sheriff's Department last week to file an emergency protective order against his wife. Police said Mr Morrow was distraught after his wife ran off to Ohio with a man she had met on the internet.
“He basically told me he was afraid his wife was going to kill him,” Sheriff Dwayne Price told ABC News. “He was afraid for his own safety, as well as his three kids.”
But while trying to file the protective order, officers said Mr Morrow gave them a false social security number, and discovered he was wanted by police in Tennessee.
“He said, ‘Oh, I might have messed up two numbers’, and Deputy Danny Martin told him, no, this is your social security number. You have a warrant on you in Tennessee,” he said.
When the man tried to leave the building Mr Martin said he tried to stop him using a Taser.
“Initially, when he started running, he picked up his child, and actually tried to use her as a human shield,” Mr Martin said. “I didn't have a clear shot with it. So, I had to make sure she was safe.”
Despite being hit by the taser, Mr Morrow was able to pull out the barbs and push his daughter into his SUV and speed off. Investigators say Mr Morrow hit a police vehicle on the way out.
“For us, it's like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Mr Price. “He could be anywhere.”
