Lexington’s first fatal shooting in 2024 found to be justifiable, police say
The Lexington Police Department has determined the city’s first reported homicide of 2024 was a justifiable shooting, according to Hannah Sloan, a spokesperson for the police department.
The shooting happened early in the morning of Jan. 21 on the 1000 block of McClain Drive, police previously said. Officers were responding to a report of a shooting with a victim and found Quante Johnson, 29, suffering from a gunshot wound when they arrived.
Johnson was taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital and pronounced dead at 5 a.m., according to the coroner’s office.
At the time of the incident, police said detectives from the Personal Crimes Section were investigating and no suspect information was provided.
On Thursday, Sloan said the shooting was determined to be justifiable or non-criminal.
The number of homicides in Lexington this year now sits at three after a fatal shooting on Carlisle Avenue Thursday morning. At this point in 2023, there had been two reported homicides, according to police data.
In 2023 Lexington reported 24 homicides, fewer than the record-breaking year of 2022, when 44 killings took place. The last time Lexington reported 24 or fewer homicides in a year was in 2018, according to Lexington police data, which dates back to 2008.
