A Louisville officer is on paid administrative leave after police say he fired his gun during an incident Monday evening. Officials say one bullet injured two teens.
It was the second shooting by Louisville police this week.
Police say two officers responded to the 800 block of South 38th Street around 6 p.m. on a report of four teens moving a possibly stolen vehicle into a vacant garage there.
Officers told internal investigators they encountered the teens at the scene. They said they tried to keep them in the garage as they requested backup, but they say the teens ran out.
Louisville Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said during a news conference Tuesday that as the officer — whom the agency has not yet publicly identified — tried to stop one of the teens from leaving the scene, “There was a discharge of his gun.”
“We haven't determined why the gun was discharged at this point. Based on what we saw, it appears to be accidental. But we’re still in the preliminary stages of that investigation,” Humphrey said.
The department’s Public Integrity Unit will investigate and turn the case over to the Kentucky State Police for review.
Of the four, one teen was detained on the scene and three fled, police said. Two of the four teens from the incident went to local hospitals for treatment Monday evening, for what police say were gunshot injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
Police say the teens denied being at the scene on 38th Street, but that they were able to place them there through body camera footage and other evidence. The department has not provided additional detail about what information they used to connect the teens to the scene.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a statement he’s instructed the department to release the body camera footage “as soon as possible.”
“I’m aware of this most recent shooting and Chief [Jacquelyn] Gwinn-Villaroel continues to keep my team and me updated on the investigation,” Greenberg said, according to the statement. “I am relieved none of the officers involved were hurt and that the juveniles involved were not more seriously injured. We are committed to transparency in this process and will provide more details to the public as the investigation progresses.”
Neither Greenberg nor police officials plainly said the officer shot the teens. They did not indicate that anyone else had control of the weapon at any time. They have not provided any identifying information about the teens, other than that they are all males. Humphrey said they are not facing any charges at this point.
After the case goes to state police, it will go to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Humphrey said. There will also be an administrative and performance review.
Anyone with information related to this case can call 502-574-LMPD.
Support for this story was provided in part by theJewish Heritage Fund.
