Man slinging flagpole at cop fatally shot in Louisville

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

A store surveillance video obtained by a Kentucky television station shows a man violently swinging a flagpole at a Louisville Metro Police officer before police say the officer fatally shot him.

Police said the officer responded to an assault call Saturday in Old Louisville, a neighborhood near downtown Louisville. The video WHAS-TV said it got from a nearby smoke shop shows the officer talking briefly with the man, who seems to become agitated and walks away from the officer.

The video, which was broken down into segments, shows the officer take a few steps forward, pull his gun and appear to call for backup before the man advances toward him swinging the flagpole. At one point the flag pole breaks.

The video shows the officer pointing his gun at the man, but doesn't show him firing.

Police declined to identify the slain man or the officer.

Police Chief Steve Conrad said the officer fired two shots in self-defense.

The man was taken by ambulance to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he later died.

Kenneth Williams said on the WHAS report that he witnessed the shooting and believes the use of deadly force was unnecessary.

"He could have maced him," Williams said in the video. "He could have used his stun gun."