Louisville officer’s post under scrutiny
Comments came days before fatal shooting
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A police officer involved in the fatal shooting of business owner David McAtee had celebrated earlier on Facebook when a protester was shot by pepper balls.
Officer Katie Crews, who was placed on administrative reassignment Monday in the fatal shooting, posted a Courier Journal photo of a protester across from her and said, “I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt.”
A screenshot of the post circulated on social media sites.
Police Chief Robert Schroeder said Monday night he is aware of the post and started a professional standards investigation into it.
The photo in Crews’ post, taken Thursday, shows a protester offering flowers to Crews, who is staring back at her.
“She was saying and doing a lot more than ‘offering flowers’ to me. Just so for it to be known,” Crews wrote in the post.
After mentioning the pepper balls, Crews ended the post with “Come back and get ya some more ole girl, I’ll be on the line again tonight.”
Police said that shortly after midnight Monday, someone shot at officers from a parking lot where a large number of people were gathered. Police and National Guard troops returned fire, killing McAtee.
Police released video Tuesday they say shows McAtee shooting a gun.
“The video appears to show Mr. McAtee firing a gun outside of his business door as officers who are using pepper balls to clear the Dino’s lot were approaching,” Schroeder said. “The video does not provide all the answers, but we are releasing it to provide transparency."