Man shot and killed by police as protests went on in Louisville
Editor's note: The Louisville police chief has been fired and two officers are on administrative leave in wake of this shooting. Read the latest update here.
A man in Louisville was shot and killed by police just after midnight Monday morning, CBS affiliate WLKY-TV reported. Officers said they were fired at before opening fire. It came on a night when demonstrators protested over the death of Breonna Taylor as nationwide protests continued over the death of George Floyd.
Police said they were trying to clear a large crowd in a parking lot, WLKY reported.
The victim's family identified him as David McAtee, WLKY reported. Louisville Chief Steve Conrad said Louisville police and the National Guard were breaking up a large group there when someone fired a shot at them. Law enforcement then returned fire.
The station reports that an onlooker said people at the scene weren't protesting and were just ignoring the city's curfew. It wasn't clear whether the dead man was a suspect in what authorities said was the initial gunfire.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has called on Kentucky State Police to independently investigate the shooting.
He held a news conference around noon saying to his understanding, there is significant footage of what happened, including from body cameras. Beshear is calling on all of it to be released quickly.
"I'm not asking people to trust our account (of what happened). I want to see the video for ourselves," Beshear said.
The station reports at least 40 people were arrested at demonstrations in Louisville Sunday night.
Louisville was home to Taylor, who was in bed with her boyfriend when a trio of armed men smashed through the front door in March. Gunfire erupted and Taylor was killed.
The three men turned out to be plainclothes police detectives, one of whom was wounded in the chaos and violence that March night.
Taylor's death led to protests and a review of how Louisville police use "no-knock" search warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without announcing their presence, often in drug cases to prevent suspects from getting rid of a stash.
Taylor's name is one of those being chanted during nationwide protests decrying police killings of black people. The unrest began after the death of George Floyd, a black man who pleaded that he couldn't breathe as a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee.
More than two months after Taylor's death, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced last week that the police department's use of no-knock warrants has been suspended indefinitely.
