The Louisville businessman who was shot early Monday during a crackdown on protesters is shown on video shooting a gun moments before law enforcement opened fire and killed him, according to police.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released the footage of the incident Tuesday as local, state and federal authorities continue to investigate in Kentucky.
The latest
Interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said Tuesday the video "does not provide all the answers" of why David McAtee, a black man, allegedly fired, according to The Louisville Courier Journal.
McAtee died early Monday after police and National Guard troops opened fire on a crowd gathered near the man’s BBQ stand, said to be one of the most popular spots in west Louisville.
Police Lt. Paul Humphrey said at a news conference that McAtee “appears to fire at the officers” before they take cover and return fire.
"Without the audio and without having interviewed the officers yet, that is yet to be determined exactly how those incidents occurred," Humphrey said, according to the Courier Journal.
Hundreds of protesters gathered about midnight on the corner parking lot of Dino’s Food Mart, a convenience store where McAtee ran YaYa’s BBQ stand.
Breonna Taylor
Military and local forces rolled into the area during a fourth night of protests over the controversial March 13 police killing of Breonna Taylor. Those protests have been exacerbated by the outrage over George Floyd’s death May 25.
Taylor, 26, an emergency medical technician, was killed when police executed a no-knock search warrant for illegal drugs at her home March 13. No drugs were found.
Gave police free meals
The new revelations about McAtee stand in sharp contrast to what people in the community said they remembered about him.
The chef was known for regularly serving free meals to law enforcement officers and preparing food for community events through the years.
“He fed them free,” said McAtee’s mother, Odessa Riley. “He fed the police and didn’t charge them nothing.”
"He was one of the ones who would donate all his time and all his food; everybody could just come up and take it and he wouldn't charge because it was for the neighborhood," said Greg Cotton Jr. in an interview with the Courier Journal.
On Monday, family maintained he had nothing to do with the protests that were taking place near his popular business when he was killed.
Police chief fired
The former police chief, Steve Conrad, was fired Monday after Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer learned he ordered deputies to turn off body cameras during the crackdown.
Conrad said at the scene that someone in the crowd took a shot at officers, who returned fire and killed McAtee.
At the time, law enforcement officials made no mention that McAtee had a weapon in his possession.
Two Louisville police officers involved in McAtee’s shooting have been identified as Katie Crews and Austin Allen, according to a report by CBS affiliate WKYT in Louisville.
Both have been reassigned pending the investigation.
Crews is also being investigated separately for a Facebook post she made last Thursday about a protester who had just been shot with pepper balls, the Courier Journal reported.
In a screenshot circulating on social media, Crews posted a photo of the demonstrator, saying, “I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt.” The Courier Journal reported that Crews ended the post with: “Come back and get ya some more ole girl, I’ll be on the line again tonight.”
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