Who is the man charged in the shooting of these two Louisville officers?
The man charged in the shooting of two Louisville officers was arrested Wednesday night after firing “multiple bullets” at police, the city’s interim police chief said.
Larynzo Johnson of Louisville shot at Louisville Metro Police Department officers as they were working to control a protest crowd, according to a portion of an arrest citation shared on Twitter by national CBS correspondent Adriana Diaz. He allegedly fired after members of the police department addressed the crowd, according to the document.
Online court documents show that Johnson was charged with two counts of first-degree assault and 14 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. A $750,000 bond was set for Johnson, 26.
It’s unclear whether Johnson was a protester. When asked if Johnson was associated with the protest crowd, Louisville interim chief Robert Schroeder said Thursday that the investigation was ongoing and releasing that sort of information would be premature.
The officers shot were recovering Thursday.
Maj. Aubrey Gregory was shot in the hip and was released from the hospital Thursday morning, Schroeder said. Gregory has been the “bedrock” of the department’s efforts to manage protests since June, the chief added.
Officer Robinson Desroches was shot in the lower abdomen and after going through “multiple surgeries” Wednesday night, Desroches was expected to fully recover, said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
The officers were called around 8:30 p.m. to the area of Brook Street for a report of a large crowd and shots being fired, Schroeder said. When the officers arrived at First Street and Broadway, shots “rang out” and the two officers were hit.
According to the citation written by officers, witnesses saw Johnson firing a handgun at the scene and running. When asked if the witnesses were civilians or police, Schroeder said it was too early to give out that information. Police have recovered video of the shooting and a handgun was found on Johnson when he was arrested, the citation stated.
Johnson was arrested at 8:40 p.m. A firearms examiner with the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network is working to determine any possible link between the recovered handgun and shell casings found at the scene, the Courier-Journal reported.
Mayor Fischer called the shooting “completely unacceptable” and asked that future demonstrations occur without violence.
Including Johnson, police made 127 arrests on Wednesday and early Thursday, Schroeder said. Louisville’s 9 p.m. curfew remains in effect at least through Sunday. Schroeder said the department expects protesting to continue through and after the weekend.
The protests following a Jefferson County grand jury’s decision to only indict one of the three officers involved in the shooting death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor in March. Brett Hankison, the officer who was indicted, faces three charges of wanton endangerment over bullets fired into a neighboring apartment occupied by three people. None of the charges filed were for Taylor’s death.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 9:16 AM.
CORRECTION: The time of the Louisville curfew was unclear in previous versions. The 9 p.m. curfew is in effect through at least Sunday.