LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Many who witnessed Louisville Metro Police officers shoot a suspect Sunday night in a crowded Shawnee Park were left feeling angry and hurt. 

LMPD spokesperson Alicia Smiley said police approached a man "known to have warrants" at the park in west Louisville around 8 p.m. There were basketball games taking place at the park. Smiley said when police approached the man, he fired and hit an officer in the chest. The officer was wearing a bulletproof vest and wasn't seriously injured but was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. He's since been released. 

On Monday, LMPD identified the suspect as Herbert Lee, who was convicted of crashing a stolen car in 2008, killing four teenagers. Lee currently had warrants out for three cases, including 12 separate charges, according to LMPD Officer Elizabeth Ruoff. 

For some witnesses, the fact that LMPD said Lee shot at police first puts things into a different perspective. But others believe police should have approached things differently because it was a crowded, public park.  After the shooting, one man who was at the tournament said he feels like there could have been a better way for police to handle the situation. 

"I feel like if somebody was to shoot at the police, they have to do their job," said Bruce Sweeney, who witnessed the incident. "Protocol [to me] is to handle the situation better in a community, around kids. Protocol would've been blocking the park off to where he wouldn't even be able to do that. Protocol would've been to approach him a certain way because there were kids over here."  

Sweeney took video of the incident. As a father and youth basketball coach, he believes the kids at the park who saw the shooting will be negatively impacted and could fear for their own safety in the place where they come to play. 

"This is supposed to be a safe place. Police are supposed to be here to protect us," he said. "They really could've blocked this park off. He was on feet. He wasn't in a car. He started from here all the way to there. You mean to tell me you couldn't block the park off and cut him off? And then arrest him for whatever charges that he had? It was sad, it was sickening, and at the end of the day, kids were out here."

Ravon Churchill, one of the organizers of the Dirt Bowl, said the whole situation is unfortunate. He knows the LMPD officers who are assigned to the Dirt Bowl games and said he wants them there but also understands why there is mistrust and many are questioning how Sunday night's incident was handled. 

"There's a lot of police officers that are here and they're cool," Churchill said. "They're just men with uniforms on. They're men just like we are. Sometimes, if you separate the uniform and the badge from the man, then I think you can have good talks." 

Churchill believes LMPD and the community have work to do to build trust with one another.

He said the Dirt Bowl has been running for five weeks without incident and hopes the games will be able to continue.

Louisville Metro Police are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting on Sunday in Shawnee Park to contact the department's anonymous tip line at 574-LMPD or online here. 

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