LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When Louisville Metro Police officers responded to a domestic violence call that turned deadly in the city's Portland neighborhood on Dec. 14, they didn't wait for a SWAT team or hostage negotiator before kicking down the door.

The family of the man who was killed, 23-year-old John Robinson Jr., believes that may have been the police department's fatal mistake.

"I just feel that it should have been a better protocol, and it should have been handled very much differently, very much differently," Kimberly Robinson, John Robinson's aunt, said Friday. "And it's not going to be just swept under the rug."

Officers were called to a home in the 400 block of North 25th Street around 8:45 p.m. last week on a domestic violence call. A woman called police and said that her brother, 30-year-old Kenneth Clark, had guns and was pointing them at multiple people in the home.

Police said Clark had two men, including Robinson, and a woman in a room and wouldn't let them to leave, all while pointing guns at them. When police responded, those three individuals were still in the room with Clark.

Body camera footage released Friday afternoon shows one of the hostages get out of the room. It also shows officers at the bottom of the stairs when police said Clark yelled that he would "sacrifice" the people in the room and kill the hostages before police could get there.

The footage shows officers breach the closed bedroom door to save the hostages, but as soon as they kick the door open, Clark, who was behind the door, fatally shot Robinson in the head. 

"Right now, we're angry," Kimberly Robinson said. "He didn't have to go like that. It has torn us apart."

It's been said there are seven stages of grief. Since Robinson's death, his family has been feeling many of those stages all at once.

"He loved his family and we loved him dearly, and we're going to miss my nephew," said Kimberly Robinson.

The Louisville man had turned 23 years old the week before his death.

"(He) loved dancing, joking, singing. He loved kids, he just loved life," Kimberly Robinson said. "In the end, he should be here. He should be here. So I'm not understanding what went on."

She said the family questions how the hostage situation played out. 

During an LMPD press briefing on Friday to release the body camera footage from the incident, a conversation caught on video reveals John Robinson knew Clark's sister. Clark had the two of them confined in a room.

"He's got two guns to his head," said one person in the home.

According to LMPD, Clark had just gotten out of jail in October, and those inside the house believed he may have been on drugs. 

Officers called for SWAT, but kicked down the door of the room before backup arrived, despite the prior warning that Clark said he would shoot if he saw police.

"It's like he's ready to die," a man in the home is seen telling police.

So why not wait for backup? 

"When you hear things like 'I am going to sacrifice you,' or 'I love you, I love everybody,' those are pretty good indicators that this is about to come to an end, and some kind of action needs to be taken," LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said Friday.

But Robinson's family isn't convinced.

"We're going to take measures to fight for justice for John Robinson every day, because he deserves this," said Kimberly Robinson. "Keep our family in our prayers, and we're going to get justice for John."

The family is now struggling to cover funeral costs for John Robinson's funeral, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help. To donate, click here.

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