Louisville officer shoots, kills man at traffic stop on stolen vehicle

officer-involved-shooting-06-09
officer-involved-shooting-06-09

A police officer in Louisville fatally shot a man Sunday night during a traffic stop for a stolen car, according to the city police department’s interim chief.

Louisville Metro Police Interim Chief Yvette Gentry said in a news conference early Monday morning that the shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

“During the course of the stop, the officer discharged his weapon, hitting one of the occupants of the car,” Gentry said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died. The coroner’s office identified him as Brian Allen Thurman, 49.

A woman who was a passenger in the car ran away, Gentry said, and police were looking for her. Gentry said police were looking for preliminary information to release about the woman.

The officer who was involved in the shooting was taken to a hospital for unrelated injuries. Department spokesman Matt Sanders told the Courier Journal that the officer has since been released.

Gentry said there is body camera footage of the traffic stop, and the investigation into the shooting is being led by Kentucky State Police. The new protocols to have state police investigate were installed after the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville earlier this year.

About 30 people were gathered at the scene of the shooting on Sunday night.

The Associated Press