Louisville Metro Police shot and killed a man Friday morning in the Highlands, a spokesperson confirmed.
The shooting was the second by LMPD officers in less than 24 hours.
The latest shooting occurred just before 8 a.m. Friday.
Police spokesperson Alicia Smiley said officers with LMPD’s Fifth Division responded to a call of a man with a knife. Security footage from a nearby liquor store shows police cars pulling up near a man on foot, according to a WFPL News review of the footage.
MetroSafe also reported a person armed with a knife trying to break into a building in the area ahead of the shooting.
Three officers then exited their vehicles and surrounded the man on the northwest corner of Barret and Winter avenues. The officers attempted to use verbal commands to de-escalate the situation, Smiley said at a Friday afternoon news conference.
“Officers attempted to subdue the man, but it was to no avail,” Smiley said. “The subject continued advancing on officers and a single officer discharged his weapon, striking the man.”
Smiley said police tried to save his life following the shooting, but pronounced him dead at the scene. No officers were injured.
The security footage from Barret Liquors corroborates the police’s description of events. It shows three officers encircling the man. The man runs in an arc past the officers. It appears at least one officer fires a Taser-like weapon. The man stops, turns around, moves slowly toward officers, then begins to speed up. At that point, an officer shoots him.
Barret Liquor Store owner Manoj Uppal shared the footage, which did not include audio, with news stations including WFPL.
“Oh my god, it shook me,” he said, of watching the footage. “It was sad to see, and as a matter of fact, when I came to the store this morning, first time in my life I've seen what appeared to be a dead man laying on the ground.”
Neighbor Joyce Daunhauer was taking out her dog in her backyard a few blocks away when she heard two gunshots.
“I don’t know who it was, but I hope they had family,” she said.
LMPD declined to take questions, saying Kentucky State Police would investigate the shooting, as is protocol.
In a separate incident on Thursday, an LMPD officer shot a man suspected of robbery in a neighborhood around Churchill Downs, according to an LMPD statement. KSP is also investigating this shooting.
LMPD Fourth Division officers responded to a report of a robbery Thursday afternoon. The statement said an adult man hit and robbed a woman then fled on the 1400 block of Paul Avenue.
Officers engaged a man fitting the suspect’s description between two houses. The police said the man rolled on the ground and pointed a weapon at officers, though officials have provided no further information to verify that claim.
The LMPD statement said an officer fired and hit the suspect. The man was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital. An LMPD spokesperson said he was in stable condition.
This story was updated at 2:43 p.m. with new details from LMPD.
