LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police have released police body camera footage in an "unintentional" shooting that wounded two teens last week.
The footage, released on March 3, shows officers with the department's Second Division responding to a report of four teen boys illegally entering a vacant garage in the Chickasaw neighborhood on Feb. 20.
Police said the boys were believed to be in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.
Authorities said two officers heard the boys inside the garage and had "drawn their weapon due to multiple unknown threats."
LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said in a press conference on Feb. 21 that it is standard for officers to have their guns drawn on runs involving break ins.
"Officers were able to determine pretty quickly it appears there were multiple suspects still on scene," he said. "That is fairly standard for a break in in-progress of that nature, to have a weapon prepared in that situation."
Humphrey said the kids attempted to exit the garage, but the officers were able to hold the door closed as they waited for backup to arrive. However, before that happened the garage door suddenly opened and the kids ran out.
Police said when Officer Brendan Kaiser attempted to detain the boys, his gun fired one bullet, LMPD believes it appears to be "unintentional."
The body camera footage shows Kaiser bump into the boys as they run out and that's when the gun discharges.
At the press conference, Humphrey said detectives haven't determined how the gun discharged at this time, adding that they are still in the preliminary stage of their investigation.
Only one teen was detained from the group that ran away, and police say he refused to answer questions.
Roughly an hour later, staff an Norton Children's Hospital informed police a teen boy had arrived with a gunshot wound. Police then learned a second teen arrived at Norton's Downtown Hospital with a gunshot wound.
Both boys are expected to survive their injuries.
In a press release from Feb. 20, police said the teens gave multiple conflicting statements to detectives regarding how they were shot and both denied being at the scene in Chickasaw.
LMPD said detectives reviewed body camera footage and other evidence to figure out how the boys were shot.
Through piecing together evidence, police said detectives were able to link the boys to the original scene where the officer's firearm discharged.
The fourth teen was able to get away from police unharmed and police are asking if anyone knows anything about the incident to contact the department.
During the press conference the following day, Humphrey said none of the teens were armed and no weapons were recovered at the scene.
LMPD said it consulted with Kentucky State Police and the agency told LMPD to conduct the investigation.
Once the department's investigation is complete, it will be turned over to KSP for a full case review before being submitted to the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney office.
Kaiser was placed on administrative leave following the incident. According to his record, he joined the police department in 2016.
He was previously exonerated in a 2018 officer-involved shooting. In that case, a suspect allegedly threw a knife that struck another LMPD officer before Kaiser shot at them.
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