Louisville Police Chief Fired Following Body Camera Footage Incident Involving Fatal Shooting

The police chief of Louisville Kentucky was relieved Monday after Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer learned that officers involved in the shooting did not activate their body cameras during the incident. The shooting led to the death of David McAtee, owner of the staple barbecue spot in the neighborhood.

McAtee died while law enforcement was enforcing a curfew amid the ongoing protests for the deaths that have occured recently at the hands of police officers.

The police claimed they were acting in response to gunfire from the crowd. The U.S. attorney said the federal authorities are going to join the state police in the investigation of McAtee's death.

According to the Guardian, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated that authorities did not have body camera footage for the investigation, just hours after the governor of Kentucky demanded the video's release. Steve Conrad, the chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department, was fired Monday afternoon.

Fischer termed the incident as an institutional failure that would not be tolerated, hence the reason the police chief was fired. He also mentioned that the assistant chief of Police, Robert Schroeder, be stepping up in Conrad's place.

Schroeder released a statement saying the two officers who fired their weapons violated policy by either not wearing or activating their cameras. He deemed the negligence unacceptable and inexcusable. They will continue to review the incident to determine if other policies were violated.

The officers were identified as Austin Allen and Katie Crews, both have effectively been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

Schroeder maintained that even though there were no body-cameras, the department would be releasing videos of the incident from nearby cameras, as well as audio from police transmissions.

The death of McAtee comes amid the protests for Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times while sleeping in her home as narcotics detectives implemented a raid on March 13.