Louisville officer who fired weapon in killing investigated over social media post
A Louisville police officer who fired her weapon during the fatal shooting of a restaurant owner faces an internal investigation after the department learned of social media posts in which the woman appeared to taunt protesters.
Katie Crews is one of two officers placed on administrative leave in the wake of the fatal police and National Guard shooting of David McAtee — a local restaurant owner. She is accused of previously posting a Courier-Journal photo of a protester offering her a flower and writing that the protester was “doing a lot more than ‘offering flowers’ to me,” according to screenshots of the post that circulated on social media.
“P.S I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt,” Crews allegedly wrote. “. . . Come back and get ya some more ole girl, I’ll be back on the line again tonight.”
The police department is aware of the post and Robert Schroeder, the interim Louisville chief, initiated a “Professional Standards Unit investigation,” department spokesperson Lamont Washington said in a statement. The investigation is ongoing.
Crews was one of two officers who fired their weapons after police were fired upon at a parking lot outside Dino’s Food Mart at 26th Street and Broadway just after midnight on Monday. McAtee, the owner of the nearby Yaya’s BBQ Shack, was killed in the gunfire. Schroeder said that Crews and the other officer did not have their body cameras turned on, which is a department violation.
The department released surveillance footage of the shooting on Tuesday. Police say the video shows McAtee firing a weapon before being shot. The footage — which has no audio — was taken from McAtee’s business and a neighboring business.
McAtee’s sister and his mother previously told Louisville media that he was an innocent bystander and didn’t fire on officers or the National Guard.
Kentucky State Police and the FBI are investigating McAtee’s death.
Previous Louisville police Chief Steve Conrad was fired Monday after the lack of body cam footage was discovered. The two national guard members who fired their weapons have also been pulled from duty by Gov. Andy Beshear.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:56 AM.