LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man who was shot by a Louisville Metro Police officer on March 11 in the Beechmont neighborhood has been identified through court documents.
According to an arrest report, that man has been identified as Bryan Nigel Beach, 26, of Simpsonville, Kentucky. He has been charged with the attempted murder of a police officer, third-degree assault of a police or probation officer, first-degree fleeing or evading police on foot and resisting arrest.
The arrest report says an investigator with the Louisville Fire Department's Arson Bureau was trying to place Beach under arrest for second-degree arson at Louisville Metro Arson Headquarters when he tried to run away. The pair scuffled, according to the arrest report, and the investigator suffered minor injuries, including scrapes to his left forearm.
The chase continued, and the investigator contacted LMPD and requested help, according to the arrest report.
Officer Beth Ruoff, a spokeswoman for LMPD, said last week that the Louisville Fire Department's Arson Bureau asked for LMPD's assistance to arrest a suspect wanted for a "domestic violence-related arson" at about 2:30 p.m. on Ashland Avenue, near the corner of Maple and South Fifth streets in Louisville.
Ruoff said that LMPD officers found the suspect "in a residential area" of Maple Court. He was armed with a knife, according to Ruoff, "and a struggle ensued."
The arrest report corroborates Ruoff's account but adds that Beach "attempted to cut his own neck with the knife."
"LMPD Officers gave several commands to Mr. Beach to stop cutting himself and to drop the knife," the arrest report states. "Mr. Beach did not obey the officer's (sic) commands."
Ruoff said police tried to use less-than-lethal force to subdue the the suspect — techniques which included tasing and pepper balls — according to the arrest report. Both techniques were ineffective, according to the report.
Police say Beach picked up a trash can and threw it at police officers, then tried to run again.
"As officers attempted to apprehend Mr. Beach, he knocked one officer ... to the ground and stood over top (sic) of him," the arrest report states. "While standing over the officer, Mr. Beach attempted to stab the officer with the intent to cause death."
The arrest report does not reference a shooting. However, according to Ruoff's account last week, an LMPD officer fired his or her gun, hitting the suspect. He was hospitalized after the shooting and his condition was not released.
The officer Beach tried to stab was taken to University of Louisville Hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the struggle, according to the arrest report. Ruoff said at this time that the officer suffered a head injury. His or her condition has not been released.
Beach's current condition is not known. According to online court documents, he is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning. However, a note in the court system indicates that Beach may still be in the hospital.
According to the arrest report, "all action were captured on multiple officer's body worn cameras." As of Tuesday, that video has not been released.
Kentucky State Police will handle the investigation per a policy instituted in 2020 in the wake of the fatal shootings of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee by law enforcement in Louisville. Since that policy went into place, KSP has investigated the fatal shooting of Brian Allen Thurman, 49, during a Nov. 22 traffic stop in the Portland neighborhood.
It took KSP eight days to release body camera footage of Thurman's shooting and identify the LMPD officer who shot him. When LMPD investigated shootings involving officers internally, the department typically released body camera footage and identified any officers who fired their weapons within 24 hours of an incident.
KSP is also investigating the March 9 shooting of a man by an LMPD officer behind a Walmart in the West Buechel neighborhood. LMPD said the shooting occurred after the man led officers on a chase and exchanged gunfire with an officer behind the store.
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