Suspect in LMPD indicted by federal grand jury: The latest on Sunday's Shawnee Park shootout
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More information is becoming available as time passes since a shootout Sunday evening at a busy West End park between Louisville Metro Police officers and a man, which ended with two people hospitalized.
The latest development was the federal indictment of the man who allegedly shot an officer, 30-year-old Herbert Lee.
The shooting happened just after 8 p.m. in the aftermath of the Dirt Bowl 2022 basketball tournament, which brought a large crowd to Shawnee Park over the weekend.
Here's a quick look at what we know and where the investigation stands.
Background: Witnesses describe panic after LMPD shooting at Shawnee Park
Who is Herbert Lee?
Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury and now faces 10 years in federal prison after allegedly shooting at officers July 10, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.
The federal charge is felon in possession of a firearm, with Lee being prohibited from possessing a firearm after being convicted of felonies in 2013, 2014 and 2019.
In addition to the federal charge, Lee was arraigned on a plethora of charges in Jefferson County Circuit Court last week when he appeared before the court with bandages on his arms after spending four days at the U of L Hospital.
Lee had a dozen outstanding warrants against him at the time of Sunday's shooting, according to LMPD, including:
Possession of a handgun by a convicted felon
Theft by unlawful taking firearm
Tampering with physical evidence
Receiving stolen property (firearm)
First-degree fleeing/evading
Second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument
Theft by deception
Probation violation
Receiving stolen property
First-degree wanton endangerment,
Violation of emergency protective order
Harassment with physical contact
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In addition to being arraigned on those, Lee was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, first-degree wanton endangerment of a police officer, convicted felon in possession of a firearm and fleeing or evading police.
He entered a plea of not guilty on all of the charges. During his appearance, he complained to the judge that he'd been denied phone privileges since being booked into Metro Detention Center Thursday afternoon and has not been provided medical care.
"I'm open all over," Lee said, gesturing to bullet wounds on his body. "My body is in pain."
His bond was set at $1 million cash only, and his next court appearance is July 25.
Does Herbert Lee have previous convictions?
Lee was previously convicted of manslaughter in 2010 following a police chase in a stolen car he was driving which ended in a crash that killed four other teens in the vehicle. Lee was 16 at the time of the crash, in 2008, and spent one year in a state juvenile justice facility before being let out.
He was convicted again in 2014 of stealing a car and has faced charges several other times since, including that June 2021 incident.
Why were police in the park?
Officers were in the park to patrol during the Dirt Bowl, a popular annual basketball exhibition in Louisville. Officers were attempting to serve Lee a warrant when the shooting occurred, LMPD has said. Lee was in attendance at the event.
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Lee is “well-known within law enforcement circles," Chief Erika Shields told reporters Monday, having been involved in a number of criminal cases dating back more than a decade.
Lee had been out on bond at the time of the shooting, Shields said, stemming from a case in which he was accused in June 2021 of fleeing from police and trying to dispose of a gun he had with him at Mall St. Matthews.
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Who was injured?
Lee and LMPD officer Joshua Pickering were both shot and hospitalized.
Shields said Pickering is "very fortunate," because the round that struck him in the chest likely would have killed him if he weren't wearing a bulletproof vest. He was released from the hospital Sunday night, she said.
Bodycam footage released by LMPD Thursday shows a hole in Pickering's vest.
It is unclear how many times Lee was shot after five officers fired their guns. He was hit in his "extremities," Shields said.
No bystanders were reported to have been injured.
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Who were the officers involved?
The officers identified by LMPD were:
Richard Williams
Daniel Burnett
Joel Voelker
Nicholas Hollkamp, the son of Courier Journal Breaking News Editor Nick Hollkamp.
Joshua Pickering, who was shot
All of the officers were placed on administrative duty.
The body cam footage released by the department shows several shots were fired by the officers.
Just one of the five officers named as having been involved in the shooting had a reprimand on his record, according to the department's release ― Williams, who was found to have missed a court appearance in September 2012.
What we know about the officers' body cam footage:
Initially, LMPD released a short compilation of footage from officers' body cameras. That footage show LMPD officers commanded Lee several times to drop the gun. Statements within the video accused Lee of firing several shots at police as he tried to flee, including the round that struck Pickering in his vest.
The following week, on July 20, LMPD released all body cam footage from the five officers involved in the shooting.
The footage totaled more than 145 minutes and shows the scene unfolding from multiple points of view.
WATCH: Full LMPD body-camera footage shows how Shawnee Park shootout went down
Before KSP started handling investigations of shootings involving LMPD officers two years ago, Louisville's police department had earned praise from University of Florida researchers for its transparency in police shooting probes. The department's policy at that time was to release any body camera footage of police shootings within 24 hours of the incident. The footage from Sunday's shooting was released Thursday.
When asked why the department was deviating from its previous protocol, LMPD spokesperson Angela Ingram wrote, "Our goal is to release the footage as promptly as possible, but not at the expense of conducting a comprehensive investigation. It is imperative that we secure witness statements as they saw events, not as events have been interpreted by others."
How many people were in the park?
Some witnesses have been critical of LMPD's decision to approach Lee during a crowded event. Shields had defended the officers as "very judicial in waiting until the event was over so there were not multiple individuals around," though footage released by the department shows Lee was next to two people and several yards from a small crowd when he was approached by police.
One person who was at the park when the shooting began said there were hundreds of people there. Some had gathered at a nearby food truck, while others were walking around Shawnee Park or were leaving the area where the Dirt Bowl games had taken place.
Leslie McBride, who was in the park at the time of the shooting, said the gunfire sounded like firecrackers and set off a panic in the crowd, noting "there were children everywhere."
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Another witness, Eddie Davis, said there were several kids at the basketball tournament, and on the night of the shooting a Courier Journal reporter spoke with a 15-year-old who had been present when shots rang out.
Shields also said when people who have been convicted of violent felonies and who possess guns illegally are allowed out of jail on low bond or are placed on home incarceration, "it’s inevitable that we are going to have officers in a space where they’re going to have to deal with these things."
What happens next?
LMPD initially implied Kentucky State Police would be involved in investigating the shooting ― given that was the policy outlined by the city in 2020.
The night of the shooting, LMPD released a statement saying the department is "consulting with KSP regarding this ongoing investigation,” but on Tuesday, KSP spokesperson Matt Sudduth said he was unfamiliar with any consultation with KSP.
Related: Louisville police break recent precedent, investigate themselves in Shawnee Park shooting
When asked for clarification by The Courier Journal, Ingram said, "…. At no time did Chief Shields or LMPD state that KSP is investigating or supervising."
The reason why KSP is not involved, Ingram and Shields said, is because the agency doesn’t have the bandwidth to investigate another officer-involved shooting at this time, while they are currently investigating five within 10 days.
In the meantime, LMPD officials are conducting the investigation into a shooting involving their own officers by themselves. It is believed to be the first time the department has investigated a shooting involving an LMPD officer in which a suspect was seriously injured since a July 2020 policy change. KSP has handled such cases following that policy change.
Courier Journal reporters Thomas Birmingham and Lucas Aulbach contributed. Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Shawnee Park shooting: What Louisville police say on Herbert Lee case
