JCPS student 'grazed' by gunshot after leaving bus stop in Shawnee neighborhood

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Jefferson County Public Schools student was shot at while walking home from the bus stop Monday afternoon in the Shawnee neighborhood.

MetroSafe dispatchers confirmed a report of shots fired at 2:30 p.m. on North 39th Street near West Main Street. Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said officers found a juvenile male "possibly suffering from a graze wound to the lower leg."

The victim wasn't transported to the hospital, Mitchell said.

"The bus was coming down the street, some kids got off the bus, and somebody just started shooting," said Connie McFarland, who was headed to the store when she drove up on a crime scene. "I heard a total of 30 to 40 shots."

LMPD said the suspects were in a vehicle, driving down the street before getting out of the vehicle, firing shots and then driving away. ShotSpotter picked up at least 14 gunshots.

"The child had gotten off the bus from what I understand and was on his way home," LMPD Maj. Steve Healey, commander for LMPD's Second Division, said. "I don't necessarily know if the bus stop was targeted, but it's just the timing of the event."

Healey said recent shootings involving youth are taking a toll on neighbors and the officers.

"It's frustrating to make runs on children being shot," said Healey. "We're putting chest seals on kids. We're putting tourniquets on kids. We are responding to runs where, if it hadn't been for ShotSpotter, somebody may have died."

The shooting is upsetting for neighbors as it happened just one month after 16-year-old Tyree Smith was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting at a bus stop a of couple miles away in the Russell neighborhood. Two other students were injured.

"You have one kid killed a month ago, you get a kid shot today. Who's supposed to protect our kids?" asked neighborhood activist George Fields, who wants to know why he hasn't seen any city ambassadors in west Louisville, like the ones who worked along Bardstown Road to help curb violence in the Highlands.

"Where's the money at?" Fields asked. "Why can't we have an ambassador group to protect our families, our kids?"

Now, neighbors are coming up with their own ideas.

"I saw it on TV, it's called 'Dads On Duty,'" said McFarland. "Let's try to get it funded where we can get these men to miss a day of work. Let's pay them to step into the school system and become these kids' fathers."

LMPD said it will increase patrols in the area while calling on support from the community.

"Help us, because we need your help. We can't do this by ourselves," said Healey. "You can report these crimes anonymously. You don't have to give your name. Just give my detectives a starting point. That's all I ask."

A house in the area was hit with gunshots, but no one else was injured. LMPD detectives are investigating the shooting, and there are no suspects in custody.

Anyone with information is asked to call LMPD's anonymous crime tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673).

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