A Kentucky State Police spokesman said Monday that James Ernest Goforth had a weapon when he was shot early Friday by a Laurel County Sheriff’s deputy.

Deputy Richard Sapcut shot and killed James Ernest Goforth, 35, on a dirt road near the Daniel Boone Motorcross off Falls City Road. The Laurel County Major Crimes Task Force is investigating the shooting, but little information has been released to this point.

Trooper First Class Don Trosper, public affairs office for KSP Post 11 in London, said late Monday that a “folding-type knife” was found at the scene of the shooting. He would not give details on the brand of the knife, but said it was larger than a pocket knife. Goforth allegedly was carrying the knife while fleeing deputies on foot after the car chase ended.

Laurel County Sheriff Fred Yaden said the shooting happened after Goforth and a passenger failed to stop when deputies activated their lights and sirens. At some point, Yaden said, the chase ended down the dirt road, and “there was an altercation and a deputy had to fire his weapon and one man was killed.”

Laurel County Deputy Coroner Kris Vanover said Monday that a preliminary autopsy report on the cause of Goforth’s death has not been released.

“The medical examiner won’t release a preliminary in cases such as this where there is an investigation under way,” he said. “They don’t release anything until the official report is done, which usually takes six to eight weeks.”

After arriving on the scene of the shooting, Vanover said Coroner Doug Bowling and he found Goforth lying in the middle of a darkened “goat path” near the motorcross park. They had to carry the body a distance because Goforth’s vehicle had bottomed out and blocked the path.

Vanover said neither he nor Bowling did a cursory examination of Goforth’s body to determine the cause of death.

“When we know it’s going to be a medical examiner’s case, there’s no reason for us to do one,” he said. “We just loaded him up and had another driver take him to Frankfort immediately. The body never left the van.”

Goforth’s family disputes reports from the sheriff’s department that Goforth was seen leaving a house that had numerous complaints about drug manufacturing. His family said they think the deputies had Goforth mixed up with somebody else.

“Meth had nothing to do with it,” said Christy Goforth, James’ sister. “The house they were at was a good, Christian home. He went to rehab and he is rehabilitated. He was just out with his friends and they wanted to go four-wheeling.”

Christy Goforth said her brother probably panicked when he saw the police lights because of some unsigned paperwork involving his rehabilitation. She said he was ordered by a judge to stay 30 days in a rehabilitation facility in Scott County, but when that time was up, he was told he actually had been signed up for a long-term program.

“He did stay his 30 days the judge ordered, but they would not sign the release because it was a long-term facility,” Christy Goforth said. “He thought that he was going to be in trouble again because he didn’t get his release signed. I know that’s why he ran.”

Christy Goforth said the family is angry about the shooting after James had tried so hard to get his life back on track.

“He was away from us from December until Mother’s Day,” she said. “Now, they took him away from us permanently.”

Sapcut is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. When contacted Monday by The Sentinel-Echo, Sapcut said, “Yeah, bye,” and ended the call.

Trosper said KSP Detective Millard Root and London Police Department Detective Russell Baker are leading the investigation. He said KSP Lt. Curtis O’Bannon and KSP Sgt. Tom Atkin are supervising it.

Trosper said he could not release other details until the investigation is complete, which could take several weeks, he said.

“It all depends on where the investigation leads on how long it takes,” Trosper said. “Some are quick and easy, due to quickness of gathering information. Some take a while because gathering the information takes longer. It could be weeks.”

Trosper said the official autopsy was crucial to the investigation.

“They have to have that to complete an investigation,” Trosper said. “Those can take anywhere up to six weeks.”

Trosper said no information was being released on where Goforth was shot or how many times he was shot.

“That comes from the official autopsy, and that is still pending,” Trosper said.

When asked why this information couldn’t be discerned from a quicker examination of the body, Trosper said that information was not being released at this time.

“Things have been interpreted the wrong way from initial autopsies,” Trosper said. “Until we have an official autopsy, especially in a case like this, we try not to release information prematurely that could be reversed by the official autopsy.”

According to a report published Aug. 3, 1993, in the Tulsa World, Sapcut shot 17-year-old Michael Kevin Fox, of Cleveland, Okla., after an 11-minute chase involving Fox and another teenager.

Sand Springs police Lt. Doug Kidwell said at the time that Sapcut fired after warning Fox to drop a .30-30 rifle Fox was pulling from his car.

The passenger in Fox's car, Wayne David Way, 16, allegedly fired the rifle at officers during the chase.

When the investigation is completed, the Commonwealth’s Attorney will determine if there is enough evidence to present to a grand jury. That grand jury will decide whether a criminal indictment is brought.

Publisher Willie Sawyers contributed to this report.