LOUISVILLE, Ky. — "When we heard the gunfire, our hearts just fell to our gut," Heather Powell said, looking down the street. With cars packed in the driveway, family members mourned the loss of a man shot and killed by Louisville police officers on Thursday.
WHAS11 asked the family for comment, but they denied, so we could not identify the man.
"Sorrow. I heard pain and sorrow from a woman's scream," Powell said, describing the aftermath of the shooting. "Just demolished."
Officers received a 911 call roughly a half an hour before arriving on scene. Interim LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said police found a Hispanic man who was "agitated inside the house" with several other family members inside the home.
Radio traffic from Third Division officers described the man as being "very erratic" and they repeatedly sent out instructions for backup to arrive with their sirens turned off.
Humphrey said officers tried to de-escalate the situation, but the man had a knife and came towards police. That's when some officers fired their tasers and others fired their guns.
"Multiple officers deployed less-lethal, including a .40mm foam baton round and taser," he explained. "Several other officers deployed their firearms, shooting and striking the subject multiple times."
With a tighter community, Latonya Kirkpatrick believes a neighborhood watch could have known more about the now-grieving family's situation and helped police de-escalate.
Latonya Kirkpatrick believes a "It's gonna help everybody. The police and us too. Because they can't always be around. We know more in our neighborhood than what the police know. So that's why the neighborhood watch program, I'm trying to build [it] up."
For now, several neighbors like Shaneca Cowherd are praying for "the family, LMPD, my neighbors, and everybody that has to witness this."
Per standard procedure, LMPD will release the body camera video from this shooting within 10 business days. That sets the due date for August 8.
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