Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shot two people in separate incidents this month.
Last week, the department released body-camera footage from the shootings.
The shootings took place on May 10 and May 14. Police released the footage on May 24, within the 10 business day window that Mayor Craig Greenberg set for his administration.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, May 28, Greenberg said he will “let those videos speak for themselves.”
“We, unfortunately, right now have some folks that think it's a good idea to have guns, to use knives, or other weapons when they're confronted by police,” Greenberg said. “And we need everyone to put down their arms, whether you're talking to a police officer, or anyone else.”
The videos are posted on LMPD’s YouTube page.
Louisville Metro Police shot 86 people between 2014 and 2021, according to a report maintained on the department’s website. Since 2022, Louisville Metro Police officers have shot at least six other people, according to The Washington Post’s police shooting database.
The high profile fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020 sparked months of protests and led to a federal investigation into the city’s police department that found officers have a pattern of violating people’s civil rights. As a result, the city and U.S. Department of Justice officials are negotiating the terms of a consent decree.
Two shootings, days apart
Nicholas Pierce was an Air Force veteran who had been suffering from mental health issues including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to a report from WDRB. A court granted his ex-wife an emergency protection order on May 9, the day before the shooting.
Pierce, 43, called 911, himself, on May 10 and was rambling to the emergency dispatcher, according to the WDRB report.
City officials did not send a social worker from the city’s crisis diversion program because Pierce reported he had a weapon when he called 911, according to the report.
Pierce confronted the responding officers with the knife and did not follow commands to drop the weapon, according to body camera footage. Officers first used a stun-gun, but he kept approaching the officers with a knife. Then, officers Christine Silk, Noah Sheets and Bailey Siegrist opened fire. He died two days later at University of Louisville Hospital.
On May 14, LMPD officers approached a 17-year-old boy at South 3rd Street and Kenton Street in the Wilder Park neighborhood. Police believed the teen was connected to a homicide that took place over Mother’s Day weekend.
Police officials said the teen attempted to run away while holding a gun. Officers tackled him and told him to drop the gun. The boy fired the weapon while pinned to the ground, and then LMPD Detective Benjamin Derby shot him in the head. The boy died the next day at University of Louisville Hospital.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office later identified the 17-year-old boy as Brandon Marroquin.
LMPD’s public integrity unit is investigating both shootings. All of the officers involved are on administrative leave.
This story has been updated with additional information.
