A suspect has been arrested after two Louisville police officers were shot and wounded Wednesday night during another round of protests in Kentucky’s largest city after prosecutors announced a single officer had been indicted. One of the officers has been released from the hospital.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer gave an update Thursday on the officers' conditions and the plans to move forward after the indictment announcement Wednesday.
Fischer said one of the officers wounded has been treated and released. The other officer, who was shot in the abdomen, has underwent surgery and remains in the hospital, according to WFPL reporter Amina Elahi. During a press conference, the mayor said that the violence at last night’s protests, which led to hundreds of arrests, was “completely unacceptable.”
The shooting occurred after 8:30 p.m. when officers were notified of a large crowd gathering near South Brook and East College streets.
Police arrested Larynzo Johnson, who has been charged with 14 counts of wanton endangerment on police officer and two counts of assault on a police officer, according to news station WLKY. Johnson’s charge of wanton endangerment is the same as what former Detective Brett Hankison is indicted for following Taylor’s death six months ago.
In a press conference Wednesday night, Interim police chief Rob Schroeder expressed concern about the shooting.
“I’m very concerned about the safety of our officers tonight. Obviously, we’ve had two officers shot tonight. That is a very serious and a very dangerous condition. I think the safety of our officers and of the community we serve is of the uppermost importance,” Schroeder said.
Names of the officers have not been released.
Fischer also announced Thursday that the city is working with Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s officer to determine if more information can be released to the public regarding the Breonna Taylor investigation, WDRB’s Marcus Green reported.
On Thursday morning, police announced 127 arrests during protests over a grand jury’s decision to not indict officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Police said some were arrested after damaging businesses and more were detained after jumping on city vehicles being used as barricades. Later, protesters who refused orders to disperse were arrested for curfew and unlawful assembly violations. Police also said some businesses were looted early Thursday including two City Gear stores and a pawn shop.
Interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder did not offer details about whether the suspect was participating in the demonstrations. He said both officers were expected to recover, and one was undergoing surgery.
During the protests, officers detained several people. In one instance, four people were seen sitting on the ground with their wrists bound behind them. As television cameras broadcast the scene live, a protester pointed at an officer and shouted: “Say her name!”
An Associated Press reporter saw National Guard members and armored military vehicles in downtown Louisville. At one point Wednesday night, police in riot gear fired flash bangs and formed a line at Jefferson Square, which has been at the center of protests. The square had largely cleared out ahead of a nighttime curfew as demonstrators marched through other parts of downtown Louisville.
As the afternoon wore on, police in protective gear clashed with the growing number of protesters in some areas and used batons to push some of them down. Officers detained at least four people, who sat on the ground with their wrists bound behind them. As television cameras broadcast the scene live, a protester pointed at an officer and shouted: “Say her name!” An Associated Press reporter saw National Guard members and armored military vehicles in downtown Louisville.
“Yes, it’s a bit extreme right now,” said Dekevion Gause, who sat beside a park memorial to Taylor made of flowers, paintings, and tiny grave markers representing Black people killed by police. “But it’s a volcano built up and now it’s exploded.”
Gause said all of the officers involved in the March 13 raid on Taylor’s home should have been charged with manslaughter.
“It’s kind of a slap in the face,” he said of the grand jury’s decision.
Gause gathered with dozens in Jefferson Square Park, dubbed “Injustice Square” by protesters who made it their impromptu hub during months of demonstrations. People huddled around a single speaker Wednesday to listen as prosecutors announced that fired police officer Brett Hankinson had been charged with wanton endangerment for firing into the homes of Taylor’s neighbors.
A grand jury brought no charges for killing Taylor, who was shot multiple times by police who burst into her home March 13 during a drug raid gone wrong. While there were no drugs in Taylor’s apartment, her boyfriend shot and wounded a police officer. State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the officers' shots that killed Taylor were fired in self-defense.
Upon hearing the news, many gathered in the square began to cry, expressing confusion and sorrow. Others exclaimed they had seen this coming.
“We know that this means that this is the next level of our protest,” said Shameka Parrish Wright, who joined the protests Wednesday. “We got work to do, we got to get Breonna’s law passed.”
She was referring to a push for a state law to ban so-called “no-knock” search warrants like the one police had when they went to Taylor’s home.
Within minutes of the announcement, about 100 demonstrators marched from Jefferson Square along the downtown thoroughfare of Sixth Street chanting: “No justice, no peace!”
Many simply sat or stood in stunned silence after hearing the grand jury’s decision.
Protests and demonstrations have sprung up across the nation:
Charlston, South Carolina
Louisville, Kentucky
Chicago
Washington, D.C.
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