While many in Louisville celebrated Easter Sunday, Louisville Metro Police officers encountered a man yelling at neighbors and possibly intoxicated in the Crescent Hill neighborhood.
At 12:30 p.m., officers responded to the scene at 3301 Arterburn Avenue. Police said, in a statement, they received a call that the same man was breaking windows at an apartment complex in the area.
When officers arrived, police said they tried to speak to the man, who was holding a knife. Police said officers told the man to drop the knife and they tried to put him in handcuffs.
The man resisted and fell to the ground with officers. Police said one officer tried to deploy a taser, but it was “ineffective.” Then, police said, the man stabbed one of the officers in the chest.
“Fortunately, the vest the officer was wearing stopped the knife and he was not injured,” LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said during a news conference.
Another officer shot the man in the head. Police said the man was taken to University of Louisville Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
“We all would prefer to be with our families instead of talking about an incident like this,” Humphrey said Sunday.
LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit will lead the investigation, and both officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave.
LMPD on Monday identified the officer who shot the man as Benjamin Klingenfus. According to documents provided by a spokesperson, Klingenfus became an LMPD officer in 2006. He received five letters from the three previous police chiefs commending him for his actions during dangerous situations. In 2014, he also received a letter of reprimand for not appearing in court.
Humphrey said body camera footage from both officers will be available in 10 business days.
This story has been updated to include new information about the police officer who shot the man.
