Louisville Police Chief Fired After Black Businessman Killed

It's still not clear exactly what happened when fatal shooting took place early Monday
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2020 1:12 AM CDT
Updated Jun 2, 2020 6:51 AM CDT
Louisville Police Chief Fired After 'BBQ Man' Shot Dead
This April 16, 2019 file photo shows Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad in Louisville, Ky.   (Scott Utterback/Courier Journal via AP)

The officers involved in a Monday shooting that left a black Louisville business owner dead did not have their bodycams turned on—a revelation that has led to the firing of the police chief. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced Monday that Steve Conrad had been relieved of duty, NBC News reports. The fatal shooting took place just after midnight, amid protests over the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville itself, both at the hands of cops. In the wake of Taylor's death, officers have been required to wear active body cameras; the officers involved in the Monday incident either weren't wearing them at all or didn't have them activated. Conrad had just last month announced an abrupt retirement after coming under fire over Taylor's shooting, but he originally planned to work through the end of June.

It's still not clear exactly what happened after Louisville police and the National Guard responded to a parking lot to break up a crowd that was breaking curfew. Conrad said earlier Monday that officers were then "shot at" and returned fire, but it has not yet been confirmed who shot first and who fired the fatal shot. David McAtee, a well-known owner of a local barbecue joint whose mother describes him as a pillar of the community, was killed. Those who knew him say McAtee often gave free food to those in need, as well as to police officers, USA Today reports; the mayor says he was known as "the BBQ man." "We are working diligently to determine what happened. The community has a lot of questions, and we share those same questions," the acting police chief said Monday. The two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. The FBI, US Attorney General's Office, and Kentucky State Police will investigate the shooting, WLKY reports. (More Louisville stories.)

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