An officer-involved shooting claimed the life of a Leitchfield man on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Christopher E. Higdon, 66, of Leitchfield, was fatally shot in the driveway of 4099 St. Paul Road by Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins after reportedly advancing toward the sheriff while holding a gun.

Chaffins and Maj. Corey Knochel of the Grayson County Sherriff’s Office had been called to the house around 1 p.m. that day for a domestic dispute that involved a shot being fired inside the home.

Higdon reportedly had a history of alcohol abuse and violent behavior and had been drinking heavily that morning, according to family members.

Higdon met the responding officers in the driveway, and ignored multiple commands to drop his weapon and stop, according to Kentucky State Police, who have taken over the investigation into the incident.

Chaffins fired his weapon three times, hitting Higdon in the chest and a wrist, state police said. Grayson County authorities were reportedly in the process of securing a medical helicopter to take him to a hospital for treatment when he died.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Grayson County Coroner about an hour after the shooting, state police said.

The preliminary cause of death was ruled as a gunshot wound to the chest. An autopsy was performed on Higdon’s body on Thursday, Dec. 10, and the coroner’s office is waiting for those results for an official ruling on Higdon’s cause of death.

Chaffins went on administrative leave following the incident, which still is under investigation by KSP Post 4 in Elizabethtown.