LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police have identified the officer who was shot in the upper torso while doing a traffic stop, and the officer who fired back at suspects.
Around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Officer Brandon Haley stopped a car in the 4000 block of West Kentucky Street when shots were fired from a nearby home, according to LMPD Chief of Police Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.
Haley was hit and taken to UofL Hospital and, according to a post on LMPD's Facebook, he remains in "critical but stable" condition. Another officer, Officer Colin Billotto, was there in support and did shoot at the suspects, but he was uninjured.
Police said Haley was hired to the department on June 14, 2021 and Billotto was hired on February 10, 2020.
"We appreciate the community's support! We see you; the Haley's see you! Please keep our officers in your thoughts and prayers," LMPD said.
Police had SWAT vehicles watching a home just south of the intersection of West Kentucky Street and South 40th Street from 4:30 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Thursday; Villaroel said that was the home where the shots came from.
Around 2 p.m., LMPD officers in tactical gear got in a single-file line and entered a house near the intersection. They came out with a few evidence bags and no new suspects. A few minutes later they searched the next house to the north. Police were not using a loud speaker or bull horn very often --if at all-- to communicate into the house.
"This neighborhood --it's getting dangerous. And it's said because my kids can't even come outside and play in the front yard because you don't know if someone's gonna pull up and shoot 'em. And it's sad," Nesha Gilliam said, who has lived on South 40th Street for six years.
Gilliam said her house is currently being worked on and she's been staying at a hotel. She came by Thursday afternoon around 1:30 p.m. to check the mail and saw all the police activity.
"I don't even wanna come down here now," she said. "It's getting ridiculous for real."
Around 5 a.m., Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear posted on X, formally known as Twitter, that there were reports of an officer being shot in Louisville and expressed his prayers for their loved ones.
A WHAS11 reporter witnessed at least one person being led from the home in handcuffs about 8:30 a.m.
Police bodycam footage is expected to be released in 10 days.
Anyone with any information that may help investigators is urged to contact LMPD's anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD.
"No piece of information is insignificant," a department spokesperson said. Reports can also be made online.
The area where the shooting took place has been cleared to the public.
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