LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The attorney for the family of a west Louisville BBQ business owner who was killed by a member of the Kentucky National Guard doubts the thoroughness of the state police investigation into his death.
Attorney Steve Romines said Kentucky State Police investigators never interviewed a key witness, David "YaYa" McAtee's niece, who was shot by pepper balls in a doorway right next to McAtee before he was hit by fatal fire.
"It's a damn thorough investigation and somebody who gets shot standing right beside him is never interviewed by police," Romines said. "This was an epic failure of policing."
Shots were fired May 31 as Louisville Metro Police Department officers and members of the Kentucky National Guard were sent to clear a crowd out after the city's short-lived curfew from Dino's Food Mart at Broadway and 26th Street. McAtee's business and home sit right across the street, and security footage showed him cooking minutes before police arrived.
David McAtee
It was the same weekend, the city erupted in protest, destruction and violence over the death of Breonna Taylor. LMPD said law enforcement fired pepper balls to disperse the crowd at Dino's, a tactic that had been used repeatedly during tense demonstration downtown in prior days.
But there'd been no protests up until that point in west Louisville, and there wasn't at the time of officer's arrival.
Surveillance video captured a crowd rushing into McAtee's building. Brown said McAtee fired his gun out the door, and a member of the National Guard shot him in the chest.
"The round was fired by one of two Kentucky guardsmen who were returning fire from McAtee that night," Brown said. "This investigation has been comprehensive. It includes more than 170 interviews, KSP lab reports and information obtained from federal agencies."
Brown said state police would not yet release their findings to the public at the request of the U.S. Attorney and FBI who are still conducting their own, separate investigations into McAtee's death.
Romines said he's preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of McAtee against LMDP, the city of Louisville and the National Guard.
"He's within his own home when someone gets shot," Romines said. "He fires a shot into the air, and they kill him. Everyone in state of Kentucky is allowed to use force to protect their own home."
Romines admits he has not seen the KSP investigation but said broken policies cost McAtee his life.
Attorney Steve Romines
"It's an institutional failure," Romines said. "Standard operating procedures for crowd dispersal were ignored. Standard operating procedures for announcing their law enforcement were ignored. Standard operating procedure for use of force were ignored ... the key things that we want to know who made the call to send them and who set the rules of force."
Brown said the KSP investigation would next go to Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine, who will decide whether the shooting was justified, or to present the case to a grand jury to consider charges.
Wine told WDRB News on Tuesday that he had not received the file yet, and there was not a timeline for the next steps.
"We're going to move quickly," Wine said. "But we also don't want to step on the toes of the FBI. We'll have to see where we are and what kind of information can be released."
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