5 Louisville officers identified in fatal shooting of homicide suspect near downtown Taco Bell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville police identified the officers Thursday who shot and killed a homicide suspect earlier this week near a downtown Taco Bell.

Aaron Ellis, a spokesperson for Louisville Metro Police, said officers Arron Sauer, Matthew Forbes, Evan Stovall, Michael Leek and Sgt. Joshua Arnwine were involved in the shooting.

Arnwine, Sauer, Forbes and Stovall are all part of the Criminal Interdiction Division, while Sauer and Stovall are part of the department's Violent Crime Unit. Leek is a patrol officer.

The department also released the officers' personnel records. All officers have several letters of commendation for their work helping victims of crimes and for capturing violent criminals.

Sauer joined LMPD on June 27, 2017. He was exonerated in 2020 in an investigation into use of force for a June 2019 incident, as well as a 2019 vehicle pursuit. He has received more than 40 letters of commendation.

Forbes joined LMPD on Sept. 9, 2014 before resigning in September 2019. He was rehired by the department on July 25, 2022. He was exonerated in a Professional Standards Unit investigation in a vehicle pursuit in June 2017, as well as an officer-involved shooting in July 2024. Forbes was given a letter of reprimand for violating obedience to rules and regulations in a different investigation. He was given a letter of commendation in October 2022 for helping a woman in crisis. He has received at least 12 other letters of commendation.

Stovall joined LMPD on Feb. 12, 2018. He was exonerated in an investigation into a warrant he served in 2019, and was disciplined in a chargeable accident in February 2018. He has nearly 50 letters of commendation.

Leek joined LMPD on June 11, 2012 and resigned in January 2021. He was rehired last March. He has a letter of reprimand for a 2013 court attendance and another letter of reprimand for a "chargeable accident" in November 2015. He received a letter of commendation in September 2017, and another in March 2020 for deescalating a situation with a subject threatening to commit suicide.

Arnwine joined the department in June 2016. He has been suspended and counseled numerous times for not reporting things properly, not deescalating things correctly and numerous crashes.

He received a letter of reprimand and was suspended without pay for four days in November 2018 for a Professional Standards Unit investigation stemming from a December 2017 incident. Another letter of reprimand was given to Arnwine for violating the department's vehicle usage standard operating procedure in 2018. In 2019, he was given a letter of reprimand for violating procedures by displaying "unprofessional conduct" and failing to deescalate when he got into a verbal exchange. He was exonerated in an officer-involved shooting in December 2023.

Personnel records show Arnwine has received 45 letters of commendation throughout his time on the force.

According to LMPD Deputy Chief Ryan Bates, officers responded at 4:09 p.m. April 6 to a report of a recent homicide suspect at the Taco Bell on South 1st Street and West Broadway.

Once on the scene, officers approached the suspect, who was sitting against the building alone, police said.

According to police, the suspect then fired at officers, and multiple officers returned fire. Police said the suspect fell to the ground, but refused to drop the weapon, and officers fired again.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit is investigating the shooting, and the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.

Under department policy, additional information and body camera footage from the shooting will be made public within 10 business days.