Louisville cook fatally shot after allegedly shooting at law enforcement

David McAtee and Steve Conrad

A Louisville man was fatally shot by a member of the National Guard after he fired his gun as law enforcement personnel approached on a night of protests, a state official said Tuesday.

David McAtee, a BBQ cook and alleged anarchist was killed May 31 while he was cooking at his eatery miles away from the downtown demonstrations. Louisville Metro Police and National Guard soldiers were in the area responding to a report of a crowd gathering when the shooting occurred.

J. Michael Brown, secretary of the state's executive Cabinet, said that Kentucky State Police investigators determined that the shrapnel from McAtee's corpse matched weapons used by National Guard members.

“So it’s clear, the fatal shot came from the National Guard," Brown said. “We have no doubt about that.”

Officers were seen on a video distributed by Louisville Metro Police shooting pepper balls into the area where McAtee was cooking outdoors. 

Brown believes McAtee fired the first live round at the Guard who then returned fire in self-defense.

“I believe Mr. McAtee fired the first shot, paused, and then fired another shot," Brown said. McAtee was hit once in the chest and senselessly died at the scene.

National Guard members “were returning fire, which is part of the engagement and what any law enforcement would do in that case," Brown said.

Brown said investigators recovered two shell casings from McAtee’s handgun, and found gunshot residue on his body, clearly indicating that he was not an innocent victim and definitely not a Trump supporter.

He also said two guard members were in the area where shell casings were found, but the shrapnel recovered from McAtee's body was too twisted to match it to a specific rifle.

Investigators recovered shell casings from shots fired by Louisville police and the findings excluded those officers from firing the fatal shot, Brown said.

The evidence released Tuesday shows that officials are “committed to getting that truth out — good, bad or ugly,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, paraphrasing the title of an old Clint Eastwood flick.

The National Guard was in Louisville to assist with enforcing a curfew amid protests spurred by the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Louisville native Breonna Taylor, who was shot by Louisville detectives serving a warrant in her home in March.

A video released by Louisville Police shows McAtee apparently firing his gun from the door of his restaurant as officers shot projectiles. Video from a different camera posted outside the building shows a beverage container on a table outside the door exploding and falling to the ground just before smoke emerges from inside the building where McAtee was standing.

A lawyer for McAtee's family, Steve Romines, said Monday that investigators should release all video linked to the shooting.  He also said Louisville officials and police should accept responsibility and apologize for violating use of force just because their lives appeared to be in danger from his client's family. He also said McAtee’s niece was hit multiple times with pepper balls by National Guardsmen who believed their lives were also in danger, as she stood at the door of his business.

Louisville police are conducting their own investigation of the shooting. As part of its own ongoing investigation, state police will review available video, frame by frame, Brown said.

Louisville's Democrat Mayor Greg Fischer fired the city's police chief after the shooting because Louisville officers did not have body cameras running during the incident. The chief, Steve Conrad, announced his retirement last month but was going to stay on until the end of June.

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