LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The family of a Louisville man shot and killed by a U.S. Marshal last week is asking for more transparency from the city's police department.

Omari Cryer, 25, was killed Friday morning around 8:30 a.m. in the Chickasaw neighborhood in west Louisville. He was shot twice in front of his body, according to Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields. 

Shields provided additional details in the case, but Cryer's family said they're still left with questions.

During a press conference Monday, Shields said a U.S. Marshals Task Force, "of which LMPD is a member," was attempting to serve a felony arrest warrant on Cryer, dated May 16, 2022 from the commonwealth of Kentucky.

"The warrant was domestic violence in nature, and the charges included assault for domestic violence, strangulation and terroristic threats," Shields said.

The task force tracked Cryer to a residence on Sutcliffe Avenue, Shields said. As officers approached, he fled from an apartment.

"There was a brief foot pursuit, they ran upon a fence, subsequently the marshals opened fire, striking Mr. Cryer," Shields said Monday. 

LMPD said a deputy U.S. Marshal shot the suspect. LMPD confirmed on Friday afternoon its Public Integrity Unit had been asked to investigate the shooting.

Cryer "was in possession of a handgun at the time he was shot," Shields said, but did not elaborate whether he was holding the weapon, reaching for the weapon or pointed it at officers.

"I'm going to refrain from providing, elaborating in greater detail and the reason for that is we still have not gotten critical statements that we need to get from involved parties, and it's really important to me to really limit the level of detail, which is why, again, we're holding off on the body-worn camera at this time," she said. "We've got to get these statements locked in first."

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office has not yet released its report on Cryer's death, so it's unclear how many times he was shot. Shields didn't know how many marshals and officers were involved in the shooting, but said the names of any involved would be released and that her understanding was that the U.S. Marshals was the only agency to discharge their weapon.

"There's been a significant amount of erroneous information flying around — which I understand — and my goal here is to ensure that everyone has a clear understanding to the best as possible of what occurred," Shields said when taking questions about the case on Monday.

Addressing talk that the warrant for Cryer's arrest was not secured until after the shooting, Shields said that a second warrant had to be secured after the shooting in order to process the scene, which was on private property.

"The arrest warrant was valid, but while we were on scene we did have to secure a second arrest warrant to search the premises," she said. "The shooting was on private property."

When asked why U.S. Marshals were involved in the case, Shields said LMPD is a partner with the agency, which works with them to serve high-risk felony warrants.

"It's no different than the ATF is imbedded with us, we make a number of gun cases that go to the commonwealth, so I understand there's been some questions of why, why would we be with a federal partner if we're not serving a federal arrest warrant," she said. "The partnerships are designed to strengthen communities, make communities safer, we could not function without the ATF and what they're doing to help us around gun violence. And if you think of it all, the majority of the risks that we're making in partnership with them are state related. So it's the nature of these partnerships."

Shields said she anticipates body camera footage from the shooting to be released "in the near future" once "essential interviews have been conducted." The body camera footage is expected to be released after interviews are complete, Shields said. 

"Our Public Integrity Unit will gather the necessary information from the investigation and we will submit it to the commonwealth attorney's office to make a determination on whether or not any charges are due to be filed," she said.

As for a timeline for when details of the investigation will be released, Shields said while the department is trying to move it along "as quickly as we can without compromising the integrity or the value of the investigation," it's important that they don't "compromise the quality of the investigation."

Shields also addressed concerns surrounding the length of time Cryer's body remained at the scene following the shooting, saying she understood the concerns and "I for one have a real discomfort when a body is not removed promptly. The flip side of that is, if a body is removed too promptly, what I can say to you is then the investigation was not thorough.

"It's imperative that we allow time for the necessary measurements to be taken, photographs to be had, so I think it's always that fine balance of ensuring, I mean it's horrible for the family, but you don't want to expedite things to the point that you miss critical evidence."

At the scene of the shooting on Friday, several people identifying themselves as family members of someone presumably involved in the incident were weeping at the scene and said officials were not giving them information about what had happened. 

"When I look back on Friday, I don't feel our communication at the front end was what it needed to be to the public," Shields said Monday. "And that was because people were trying to figure out was the U.S. Marshals Public Affairs going to handle, or we're going to handle, who's going to handle the investigation ..."

OMARI CRYER FAMILY TALKS

Omari Cryer's family speaks at Jefferson Square Park on May 22, 2022.

Shields began Monday's press briefing by offering her condolences to Cryer's family, particularly his mother. 

"I first want to start by offering my condolences to LaTonya Jamison. She's the mother of Omari Cryer. And regardless of the circumstances, she was a mother and this was her child," she said.

On Sunday night, some of Cryer's family and supporters gathered at Jefferson Square Park.

They said investigators haven't been giving Cryer's mother any details.

"We want to know what happened to Omari Cryer, we want to know," Ansong McGhee, Cryer's cousin, said. "This ain't right. They're killing our kids and we're sick of it. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. We're out here saying another name. Another name. Another Black man is dead."

Cryer had several children, according to his family.

On Monday, a crowd of family and friends gathered downtown once again. Antiya Parker was one of those in attendance. She is the mother of Omari's son, KJ.

"You had a cool dad. For one, his dad, he loved him so much," Parker said.

As for her reaction to Cryer's death, she, along with many others protesting, is demanding more information from LMPD.

"Questions. Confusion. Because why was he shot?" Parker asked.

Following Monday night's vigil, protesters left Jefferson Square Park and marched through downtown Louisville streets.

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