Police, National Guard fire shots into crowd of Louisville protesters, one dead

It was not specified who fired the shot, and no information on the victim has been released.

By REUTERS, ZACHARY KEYSER
A soldier with the Army National Guard stand on the street during a protest against the deaths of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police and George Floyd by Minneapolis police, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. May 31, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS)
A soldier with the Army National Guard stand on the street during a protest against the deaths of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police and George Floyd by Minneapolis police, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. May 31, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A popular black restaurateur was fatally shot in Kentucky early on Monday as police and National Guard troops fired weapons while dispersing a crowd protesting against police killings of African Americans.
According to a Louisville Metro Police Statement, police officers and the National guard were on scene at around 12:15 am to break up a crowd of protesters gathered in a parking lot located on 26th and Broadway in the metropolitan area.
“Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,” police chief Steve Conrad said in a statement, according to NBC News. “Both LMPD and National Guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene.”
The chief of police in Louisville was fired and two officers placed on administrative leave after authorities learned the officers had fired their weapons without using body cameras to record what happened, Mayor Greg Fischer said at a press briefing on Monday.
"We had a horrible tragedy last night at 26th and Broadway," Fischer said. "We lost a wonderful citizen named David McAtee."
The death of McAtee, who owned YaYa's BBQ near the site of the shooting, marked the second time Louisville police did not use their body cameras during a shooting incident in which an unarmed black resident was killed.

 

Details were not immediately available about the circumstances of McAtee's death, Fischer said.
He added, however, that authorities know two Louisville police officers and two National Guard soldiers had fired their weapons. The officers say they returned fire after someone shot at them, Fischer said.
Kentucky Governor Andy Bashear, a Democrat, promised an exhaustive investigation.
"My pledge is that we will give you the truth, no matter what the truth is," he told a news conference.
Last Thursday, seven people were shot throughout the city during the ongoing protests, according to NBC News - no officers were involved.
Like protesters across the country, the Louisville marchers were incensed by the treatment of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after being pinned beneath a white officer’s knee for nearly nine minutes. But they were also protesting against the Louisville officers who shot 26-year-old Breonna Taylor while serving a "no knock" search warrant at her apartment.