Man killed in shooting at Louisville protest park
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two people were shot and one person was killed in downtown Louisville on Saturday evening at the site where crowds have been protesting the death of Breonna Taylor for weeks, according to Louisville Metro Police officials.
Shots were fired in Jefferson Square Park around 9 p.m. police said. The man killed was Tyler Gerth, a 27-year-old photographer who had become a vocal supporter of ongoing protests against racism and police brutality.
Shortly after the first shooting, police received reports of another person shot at the Hall of Justice. That person, the suspect in the shooting, was taken to University of Louisville Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, officials confirmed Sunday afternoon. The person, who has not been publicly identified, is in police custody at the hospital.
Officials also announced early Sunday that tents that had been raised by protesters were being torn down and people would no longer be able to stay overnight in the park, though protesters vowed to return.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement Saturday evening that he was “deeply saddened by the violence that erupted in Jefferson Square Park tonight, where those who have been voicing their concerns have been gathered.
“It is a tragedy that this area of peaceful protest is now a crime scene,” Fischer said. “My thanks to the first responders who assisted at the scene. I will have more to say tomorrow, as additional information becomes available.”
Gerth was the godson of Louisville Courier Journal columnist Joe Gerth.
A video posted on Facebook shows a man firing a gun. People screamed for a medic, and at least one person was on the ground.
Julie Sullivan, an activist with Kentucky Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, was at the park during the shooting. She started yelling at everyone to “get down” when she heard the gun shots.
Sullivan said she tried to help a women find her children shortly after hearing the gunshots. She added that police eventually blocked off the camp at Jefferson Square Park.
“The cops had it blocked off, and they were telling us to get out,” Sullivan said. “And everybody started to walk, and I was like, ‘Take whatever you need.’ Because these people are living here. Their cellphones or whatever might be in the camp.”
At Jefferson and Fifth streets, there were more than a dozen police cruisers around 9:45 p.m., with tape blocking off Jefferson Square Park.
No one was allowed inside the park, according to a Courier Journal reporter at the scene.
Shortly before 10 p.m., a group of Louisville Metro police officers arrived at the park in riot gear. Several people
confronted the officers.
At 10:30 p.m., a group of protesters held a moment of silence for those who were shot. Chants of “say her name, Breonna Taylor” broke out afterward.
Democratic Kentucky Senate candidate Charles Booker wrote in a tweet Saturday night “praying for our city” in response to the shooting.
Jefferson Square Park was reopened around 8 a.m. Sunday with tents and other belongings cleared.
Taylor, 26, was shot to death in March by Louisville police officers serving a no-knock warrant at her apartment. Her boyfriend thought officers were intruders and fired a shot as they entered. Taylor was shot eight times.
Protests in Louisville began May 28 and have continued since then, as the case has attracted international attention.
One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was fired June 19. Two others who also fired their weapons, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove, are on administrative reassignment.