LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LMPD’s Homicide Unit has solved more than 100 cases this year, nearly half of which were criminal homicides. Solving those cases, as LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey notes, is a collaborative effort between detectives and the community.
That’s why the department is asking for more help in bringing closure to three separate fatal shootings that all happened within one block inside the Russell neighborhood.
LMPD Homicide Unit Commander Lt. Les Skaggs said the homicides are unrelated, but occurred within the 1000 block of Esquire Alley. A lack of witnesses left police with very few leads to follow in each of the cases.
“Tips are great, witnesses are great because we weren’t there. What we need is people who know something or saw something, to say something,” Skaggs explained. “That’s the biggest way we can solve these crimes. Our victim is deceased so they can’t tell us who did it.”
Skaggs said that block, located just south of the Village West Apartments, is within one of LMPD’s five “sustained focused improvement areas.”
“This is in one of those areas that we’ve identified that there is a serious problem, and it’s not just those three homicides, there’s other crime that’s been occurring there,” he said.
Humphrey hopes more help from the community will allow LMPD to prevent additional crimes from happening in the area.
“To have three homicides in one block, no one deserves to live in that type of environment,” the police chief said. “When we talk about how we’re deploying resources, we wanna make sure we put them where crime occurs before it occurs and maybe we can disrupt that crime cycle. I would much rather prevent a crime than solve one.”
Anyone with any information about these homicides is asked to contact LMPD by calling the anonymous crime tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673). Reports can also be made online anonymously by clicking here.
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