SOMERSET, KENTUCKY - Thirty-eight years after his police chief father was gunned down in the line of duty, Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron was shot to death as he walked away from a weekend political rally. <br>
<br>
Catron was hit in the back Saturday by a single bullet from a high-powered rifle and killed as he left a rally in Shopville, a tiny community about 70 miles south of Lexington. <br>
<br>
Early Sunday, Danny S. Shelley, 31, who police say tried to flee the scene by motorcycle but crashed, was charged with capital murder in the sheriff's death. <br>
<br>
Catron, 48, who had been running for a fifth-term as sheriff, ran a Web site that encouraged e-mails and tips to the sheriff's office, and was a popular figure in the community. <br>
<br>
He had appeared Saturday on a segment of ``America's Most Wanted'' about former Kentucky State Militia member Steve Anderson, who is wanted for allegedly shooting at a police officer in eastern Kentucky. However, State police said Sunday they don't believe Anderson is linked to Catron's death. <br>
<br>
``We have no reason to believe it's connected'' to the militia incident, said Lt. Lisa Rudzinski, a state police spokeswoman. <br>
<br>
The south-central Kentucky community where Catron worked was shocked by the killing. <br>
<br>
``It was just like a nightmare. It was an assassination in my opinion,'' said Judge-Executive Darrell Beshears, who attended the rally. Late Saturday night, he appointed Chief Deputy Jim McWhorter as sheriff. <br>
<br>
Catron had given a campaign speech before the shooting, said County Attorney Bill Thompson. <br>
<br>
``Everybody there I would say heard the shots. It was basically panic,'' Thompson said. <br>
<br>
Beshears said people in the crowd began pointing at someone leaving on a motorcycle. A sheriff's deputy and firefighter caught Shelley about five miles away.
