Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008

UPDATED

Officer fires gun instead of Taser

UPDATED | Man’s condition upgraded after accidental police shooting

By Shawntaye Hopkins and Greg Kocher

shopkins@herald-leader.com, gkocher1@herald-leader.com

NICHOLASVILLE --

NICHOLASVILLE — The condition of a man who was accidentally shot by a Nicholasville police officer Thursday has been upgraded to fair, according to University of Kentucky Hospital.

A police news release said Lt. Bill Jones intended to use his Taser to stop a fight outside the police department, but he mistakenly drew his handgun and shot the man once in the side. Jones is on administrative leave pending a Kentucky State Police investigation, Nicholasville Police Chief Barry Waldrop said.

Nathan MacLaren of Baytown, Texas, identified the man who was shot as Michael McCarty, 27. McCarty had been listed in critical condition Thursday night.

MacLaren, 47, is the boyfriend of McCarty’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Amanda, and they intended to take the McCartys’ 8-year-old son, Johnny, to Texas, MacLaren said.

MacClaren said he and Amanda McCarty had expected trouble, and they arranged for Michael McCarty to say goodbye to his son at the police department. The couple had a police officer get the boy from Warner Elementary School in Nicholasville, and they had police verify a court order in which a judge granted Amanda McCarty full custody of Johnny and his 6-year-old sister, Megan.

While the children were saying goodbye to their father, MacLaren said, Michael McCarty ran across the parking lot to MacLaren and began swinging. MacLaren said he was trying to get McCarty to his knees “and get him away from me.”

During the scuffle, “I heard a ‘pop’ but I didn’t know where it came from,” Mac-Laren said. “I didn’t see a weapon.”

McCarty was “screaming in pain, holding his stomach,” MacLaren said. He saw blood on McCarty’s hand.

After the shooting, police cordoned off a section of the north parking lot between the police station and The Turning Point church next door. McCarty’s cap was on the blacktop next to MacLaren’s blue Ford pickup.

MacLaren said Friday that he does not intend to press assault charges against McCarty.