LMPD officer who shot and killed robbery suspect was cleared in 2019 fatal shooting

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville police identified the two officers who shot and killed a man Nov. 22 in the city's Southside neighborhood.

Louisville Metro Police said Officers Patrick Norton and Richard Waller responded to the 100 block of East Southland Boulevard just before 10 p.m. Saturday after a person said they were robbed at gunpoint. At the scene that night, Deputy Chief Ryan Bates said the caller gave a description of the suspect, and officers found a person matching that description near the area of the robbery.

Officers made contact with the suspect, who Bates said started running and produced a handgun. Norton and Waller officers pulled out their guns, fired and hit the suspect. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.

Bates, who took no questions from the media at the scene, said no officers or bystanders were injured. The man's handgun was recovered at the scene.

Waller has 23 commendation letters on file and no disciplinary history with LMPD. But this wasn't the first time Norton has been involved in a deadly shooting.

In November 2019, he was investigating a stolen vehicle about a block away from the Kroger near 35th and Bank streets when an active shooter call at the store prompted them to respond to the store, according to Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine's report.

Body camera footage shows Norton position himself behind a brick pillar looking out toward the store's parking lot and another officer following with a rifle he got from their police car.

On body camera video, a witness can be heard pointing out the suspect, Shelby Gazaway, in the parking lot to Norton, who turns on the mounted flashlight of his gun, points it toward Gazaway and yells "Hey! Hey! Hey!" before appearing to fire a shot and moving behind the pillar.

Norton told members of the Public Integrity Unit that Gazaway fired toward him after he yelled, according to Wine's report. Norton told investigators that he returned fire but "couldn't remember how many times."

LMPD's Crime Scene Unit found 15 shell casings at the scene that were consistent with Norton's Glock 22 semiautomatic, according to Wine's report. An autopsy revealed that seven "medium caliber projectiles" were recovered from Gazaway's body.

In a letter dated July 8, 2020, to a member of LMPD's Public Integrity Unit, Wine said Norton and the other officer "were justified in using deadly physical force."

According to department policy in shootings involving officers, LMPD's Public Integrity Unit will investigate. Body camera footage will be released within 10 days.

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