Teenager charged with attempted murder of an officer after shooting at Lexington cops
A 16 year old is facing multiple attempted murder charges after a Sunday shooting that injured a cop, Lexington police said Wednesday.
Three teen boys were charged in the incident. The 16 year old is charged with assault of a police officer, three counts of attempted murder of a police officer, five counts of wanton endangerment, possessing a handgun as a minor, carrying a concealed weapon, criminal mischief, trafficking a controlled substance with a gun, trafficking marijuana with a gun, and receiving a stolen gun.
Two 17 year olds were each charged with possessing a handgun as a minor, trafficking a controlled substance with a gun, trafficking marijuana with a gun and receiving a stolen gun.
The Lexington Police Department doesn’t identify minors who have been charged with crimes, but police said the three teenagers were in custody at a juvenile detention center.
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon while officers were conducting an investigation, according to Lexington police. Officers saw four teenagers, including the three charged, who they thought may have been involved in a previous shooting.
Police approached the teenagers in the 1000 block of Newtown Pike, at which point one of the teenagers fired a gun and struck one of the officers. Another officer returned fire, but no one was struck by the cop’s gunfire, according to police.
The officer who was shot was protected by his bulletproof vest, according to police. He suffered a non-life-threatening injury and was taken to a hospital.
Officers involved had their bodycams activated, according to Lexington police. Kentucky State Police’s Critical Incident Response Team was investigating the shooting.
State police typically don’t release details on critical incident investigations until they’ve gathered facts and interviewed key witnesses.