Louisville Metro Police officials released the names of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man at a Hurstborne Acres apartment complex on Dec. 7.
According to documents from LMPD, Michael Crowe and Austin Taylor fired at a man police said was armed in the 9000 block of Red Deer Circle on Dec. 4. Years earlier, Crowe was found in violation of LMPD policies in a separate police shooting.
Crowe joined LMPD in 2017 after working three years with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. He received a letter of reprimand in December 2022 after an investigation into his actions during a 2021 shooting near a Walmart on Bashford Manor Lane. Crowe fired at an armed man who officers had chased for miles after he fled a traffic stop, The Courier Journal previously reported. The man fired shots just before Crowe returned fire.
In the 2022 letter, then-LMPD Chief Erika Shields said Crowe violated the department’s pursuit and body camera procedures during the Bashford Manor incident. She said Crowe drove at high speeds without lights or sirens and failed to stop at a stop sign during the chase.
Crowe also did not have his body camera positioned correctly to capture the pursuit and shooting, Shields wrote. The Courier Journal reported that Crowe was wearing a vest that covered the camera, although audio was still recorded.
The same letter cleared Crowe of allegations that he violated deadly force or deescalation policies. Shields said his decision to fire at the armed man was “quick and justified” because the man had shot at officers first.
Taylor, who joined LMPD in 2020, has received one letter of reprimand for failing to appear for mandatory court attendance in August 2021.
The records released Dec. 7 also include several commendation letters for both Crowe and Taylor. Both officers currently work in the Sixth Division.
Body camera footage from the Dec. 4 shooting has not yet been released. LMPD policy requires the department to make such recordings public within 10 business days.
Both officers fired at the man after ordering him to drop his weapon, LMPD Deputy Chief Ryan Bates said on Dec. 4. Crowe and Taylor provided aid at the scene, but first responders pronounced the man dead.
Officials have not yet identified the man who was killed on Dec. 4.
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