LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – On Thursday, the Louisville Metro Police Department released body-worn camera footage from the night officers shot and killed a man accused of attacking them with a knife.
On July 25, officers responded to a home in the 6600 block of Eagle Wood Drive near Valley Station after receiving calls about a “man in distress.”
During the 911 call, 32-year-old Yoel Roberto Napoles-Ravelo said he needed to go to the hospital. What sounded like an argument or fight could be heard in the background before he hung up. Telephone operators tried to call the house back but got no answer.
When officers arrived, they found Napoles-Ravelo and several other family members inside the home. His sister came outside to speak with Officer Matt Forbes and try to deescalate the situation.
In the body-worn camera footage, Napoles-Ravelo repeatedly set off his car alarm and went in and out of the house through the window after apparently breaking the screen. He also held up a Bible and told officers he was a Christian.
Police said they also tried to de-escalate the situation, including asking backup to turn off the sirens so as not to alarm Napoles-Ravelo. Although he spoke some English, there was an obvious language barrier between Napoles-Ravelo and the officers who responded to the call.
However, he allegedly grabbed a butcher knife and approached the officers. Officer Forbes repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife and another object he was carrying. They believed he was having a seizure. The officers attempted to use non-lethal means before opening fire.
He died before he could be taken to the hospital. Family members of Napoles-Rivero say he did not have a knife on him, and they are urging Mayor Craig Greenberg to transfer the investigation to an agency other than the LMPD.
The three officers involved in the shooting, Forbes, Garrett Schmeltz and Kendrick Eaves, were ordered by the LMPD to be placed on leave in accordance with department policy.
According to LMPD, the call was not an emergency call because no one answered an attempt to call back and the caller did not answer the dispatcher’s questions on the first call.
LMPD has posted both raw body-worn camera footage and an edited package of the crime scene on its YouTube page.
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