LOUISVILLE, Ky. — WARNING: Story and video contains graphic details. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) released new details Friday, including officer-worn body camera video, regarding a man who was fatally shot during a domestic hostage situation earlier this month.
On Friday, LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey identified the victim as 23-year-old John Robinson Jr. He said Robinson was shot and killed by the suspect, 30-year-old Kenneth Clark.
Humphrey said LMPD First Division officers responded to a home in the 400 block of North 25th Street around 9 p.m. on Dec. 14, which is located in Louisville's Portland neighborhood. A woman called 911 saying Clark was on drugs and pulled out a gun before holding someone hostage. Humphrey added that the caller said kids were inside the house.
“My brother, he’s on drugs and he got a gun pointed at my friend and he will not let him leave out the door,” the woman told dispatchers. Humphrey said it's unclear if Clark was on any drugs or alcohol.
Bodycam video shows officers speaking with the woman at the house. She said Clark had two guns and there were three people inside the room along with the suspect. She told police he felt like Robinson was trying to “set him up.”
One of the men inside the room was able to leave safely and told authorities that Clark was holding a gun to Robinson’s head and warned that if he saw police, he would kill him.
“He’s tripping,” the man said. “He’s ready to die. If he sees the police coming, he’s willing to die.”
Humphrey said after this conversation, the situation quickly began to escalate. Officers were able to FaceTime the suspect’s sister, who was also trapped in the room.
“He’s not letting John out of the room,” the sister said.
An officer watching the video call tells the other officers that there were two guns in the room and describes where the hostages were.
According to LMPD, two officers fired their weapons: officers Shaine Edmondson and Jeffrey Goldman. Both men have been with LMPD since April of this year.
From the bottom of the stairs, Goldman’s bodycam video shows there was an escalation inside the room and the suspect can be heard yelling that he will “sacrifice” people in the room and that he plans to kill the hostages before anyone can get to him.
The suspect could be heard in the room trying to have the blinds closed. Humphrey said he believes the suspect was trying to create an environment that was to his advantage.
“He is showing his intent,” he said. “You can hear how the temperature in that room is going up.”
Edmondson can then be seen moving up the stairs with other officers to position themselves outside the bedroom door. Clark can be heard making additional statements that led police to believe the situation was coming to an end and they needed to make a move to save the hostages.
When the officers kicked opened the bedroom door, police say Clark fatally shot Robinson in the head. They say Edmondson then shoots Clark in the arm, and he falls to the ground.
Humphrey said Clark did receive a gunshot wound to the head as well, however LMPD said it’s unclear if he was shot by police or had shot himself. He added that as Robinson’s body fell, he was also struck by one of LMPD’s bullets in the torso -- but Humphrey maintains that came after Robinson had already been shot in the head.
The suspect’s sister was able to leave the room without injury and get to safety.
Humphrey said there was nothing the officers could have done differently to save Robinson’s life.
“In all of these situations, there’s one person who has ultimate control of these situations and that’s the suspect,” he said. “I will tell you in my experience, this was an unwinnable situation for those officers.”
Even though officers were able to save two hostages, Humphrey said losing one is difficult for the officers involved. He played a portion of the bodycam video after the incident showing an officer crying beside a police cruiser.
“These are life-changing events for officers; they just lost a hostage they were doing everything in their power to save,” he said. “To lose a hostage is a very, very hard event for officers.”
911 call records show SWAT, which has hostage negotiators on its response teams, was called about four minutes before shots were fired. Records show SWAT was still in route three minutes after shots were fired.
"You are not going to take the most experienced SWAT officer in the world and win that gunfight. That person had set that situation up in a circumstance that we were not given an opportunity to prevent that from happening," Humphrey told WHAS11. "These officers chose [this option] based on the totality that we have to take a decisive action now, that we feel like that is our best opportunity to take some kind of intervention that's going to save the life of -- preferably both of these hostages -- but at least somebody."
Clark remains in "grave condition," according to Humphrey. He said if Clark survives his injuries, he would be facing a murder charge.
Police said Clark has a history of mental health challenges and time in prison, most recently getting released this past October.
Both officers who fired shots have been put on paid administrative leave, per department policy.
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