Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer fired the Kentucky city’s police chief after he learned that officers did not have body camera footage of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.
Fischer announced police chief Steve Conrad’s termination Monday, effective immediately. The move came after police officers said they “returned fire” on a crowd in the city that was violating curfew, killing a local business owner, 53-year-old David McAtee.
“This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated,” Fischer said about the lack of body camera footage.
Conrad had claimed that a group of police and soldiers were working to clear out a parking lot and “at some point were shot at.” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a Monday statement that an investigation into the shooting was underway.
“Last night at around 12 a.m., it is our understanding that the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) and the Kentucky National Guard were dispatched to 26th and Broadway. While working to disperse a crowd, LMPD and the Kentucky National Guard were fired upon,” Beshear said. “LMPD and the Kentucky National Guard returned fire resulting in a death. Given the seriousness of the situation, I have authorized the Kentucky State Police to independently investigate the event.”
McAtee was well-known in the city for his barbecue restaurant, which he had owned for the past three decades. He has been described as a “staple in the community” by local officials.
“Right now, I can’t tell you the feeling I have. All I can say — when a mother loses her child, a piece of you goes along with that child,” said McAtee’s mother, Odessa Riley, after her son was killed.
Dozens of people were arrested in Louisville on Sunday night after the city introduced a 9 p.m. curfew as people protested not only George Floyd’s death but also the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman who was shot in March by police officers as they executed a search warrant on her apartment.
