LOUISVILLE, KY - Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) fatally shot a woman on Friday, March 27, who allegedly charged at them with a "large, sharp object" at an apartment complex near Jeffersontown.
Deputy Chief Emily McKinley said patrol officers responded to the 9800 block of Vieux Carre Drive at 7:45 p.m. on a report of a person "experiencing a mental health or behavioral health crisis," according to WDRB.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers learned there was a 28-year-old woman with self-inflicted lacerations who was armed with a piece of glass or an edged weapon and was locked in a bathroom, McKinley said. According to authorities, the woman was "highly agitated, incoherent, and making suicidal statements."
Police at the scene "attempted to de-escalate through verbal communication" and asked other responding officers to bring "less-lethal tools," McKinley said.
Because there was a weapon and other people were present, McKinley said the situation "did not meet the criteria for deflection or a mobile crisis response." As the woman continued making "agitated, suicidal statements" from the bathroom, crews with the Anchorage-Middletown Fire Department responded and forced entry into the bathroom.
When the door was opened, McKinley said the woman exited and "charged at officers with a large, sharp object." Two officers fired their weapons, hitting the woman. She was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
LMPD's Public Integrity unit is investigating the shooting, and the officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol. Departmental policy states that additional information and body camera footage from the shooting will be made public within 10 business days.
Deputy Chief Emily McKinley said patrol officers responded to the 9800 block of Vieux Carre Drive at 7:45 p.m. on a report of a person "experiencing a mental health or behavioral health crisis," according to WDRB.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers learned there was a 28-year-old woman with self-inflicted lacerations who was armed with a piece of glass or an edged weapon and was locked in a bathroom, McKinley said. According to authorities, the woman was "highly agitated, incoherent, and making suicidal statements."
Police at the scene "attempted to de-escalate through verbal communication" and asked other responding officers to bring "less-lethal tools," McKinley said.
Because there was a weapon and other people were present, McKinley said the situation "did not meet the criteria for deflection or a mobile crisis response." As the woman continued making "agitated, suicidal statements" from the bathroom, crews with the Anchorage-Middletown Fire Department responded and forced entry into the bathroom.
When the door was opened, McKinley said the woman exited and "charged at officers with a large, sharp object." Two officers fired their weapons, hitting the woman. She was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
LMPD's Public Integrity unit is investigating the shooting, and the officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol. Departmental policy states that additional information and body camera footage from the shooting will be made public within 10 business days.
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