Suspect shot by LMPD officer identified, charged with attempted murder

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 40-year-old Louisville man who was hospitalized Thursday after an LMPD officer shot him in the Taylor Berry neighborhood is now charged with attempted murder.

Thomas Brooks was booked into Louisville Metro Corrections early Friday morning, after being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm. He pleaded not guilty to several charges in court, but not before telling the judge he needs more medical attention.

"I mean I just got shot last night, and I came straight to the jail," Brooks said during his arraignment hearing Friday morning. "And I got a shattered shoulder. That's what the diagnosis was."

Brooks lifted his orange jumpsuit to show his wound to the judge as he asked to be sent back to the hospital for further treatment. The judge made a note for Metro Corrections staff to check on the wound.

According to court documents, Brooks was found in a stolen vehicle around 2 p.m. Thursday. LMPD Assistant Chief Robert Schroeder said that's when officers responded to reports of the stolen vehicle, which they found in an alley behind the Walgreens at the intersection of Winkler Avenue and Montana Avenue, not far from Algonquin Parkway.

Officers surrounded the vehicle, and shouted at Brooks to show his hands. Instead, police say Brooks took off at a high rate of speed. As he drove away, he showed "extreme indifference to the officer's life and wantonly created a grave risk of death to the officer by contacting the officer with the front of the vehicle," according to the arrest report.

That's when the officer "fired multiple rounds at the suspect, striking him in the upper arm."

After being shot, police say Brooks continued fleeing in the stolen vehicle before ditching it and taking off on foot. Police caught up with Brooks in the 1100 block of Euclid Avenue, and he was taken to University Hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound.

Police say they found money and drugs inside the vehicle, including marijuana and suspected crack cocaine, as well as drug paraphernalia.

Brooks was already wanted on a domestic violence warrant. He is now facing additional charges of attempted murder, fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle, and receiving stolen property.

Schroeder said another officer, who did not fire any rounds, was injured after hitting a utility pole during the chase. That officer is expected to survive.

The judge set a $500,000 bond for Brooks. LMPD plans to release more information during a 4 o'clock news conference Friday afternoon.