Two police officers have been shot downtown, Louisville Metro Police interim chief Robert Schroeder confirmed during a brief press conference Wednesday evening. One suspect is in custody.
One officer is in stable condition. The second officer is undergoing surgery, but is also in stable condition, Schroeder said. Both are being treated at University of Louisville hospital.
The officers were responding to reports of shots fired when they were shot, Schroeder said. Schroeder declined to provide the names of the officers or the suspect.
The FBI's Louisville office said its SWAT team responded to the shooting and will assist in the investigation.
The shooting comes as hundreds protested downtown in response to today's announcement that one former LMPD officer was indicted in the Breonna Taylor case. Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a neighboring apartment. None of the charges were related to Taylor's death.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed by LMPD officers as they executed a search warrant at her house on March 13. Two other officers fired their weapons, but were not charged; Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly were justified in firing because they were returning fire. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot because he said he thought someone was breaking in.
About an hour prior to the shooting, LMPD officers declared an unlawful assembly at Jefferson Square in response to several small fires set around the Hall of Justice. That prompted some of the protesters to march; gunfire could be heard on the WDRB livefeed as a reporter and camera person followed the marchers near Broadway.
After the shooting, remaining protesters downtown largely cleared out before the city-imposed 9 p.m. curfew.
All is quiet at Jefferson Square Park. pic.twitter.com/pvqivb9l73
— Ryan Van Velzer (@RyanVanVelzer) September 24, 2020
This story will be updated.
