KNOTT COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — The family of a man who was mistakenly identified as an interstate shooting suspect has filed a lawsuit against a Kentucky State Police trooper and a sheriff’s deputy, claiming they escalated a mental-health call that ended in a fatal shooting.
According to Thomas Law Offices, Travis Pratt’s mother called Kentucky State Police on Sept. 8, 2024, because she was concerned about her son’s mental well-being.
At the time, southeastern Kentucky was on edge after a gunman, Joseph Couch, opened fire on drivers traveling on I-75 the day before, triggering a nearly two-week search.
Who is Joseph Couch? Alleged I-75 shooter warned he was going to ‘kill a lot of people’
After Pratt’s mother contacted troopers, state police received another call reporting that Couch was armed with a knife on someone’s porch in Littcarr. The caller said he chased the man off the porch by firing a handgun into the air and then saw him run into another nearby home. Attorneys say the man was not Couch but Pratt.
Thomas Law Offices said Pratt had locked himself in a bathroom and showed clear signs of mental impairment while troopers spoke with him through the door.
“While [Trooper Donnie] Kelley talked to Pratt through the door, another trooper familiar with Pratt advised on the channel that he knew Travis and requested to be patched through to try to talk to him and calm him down. This request was ignored,” a news release from Thomas Law Offices said. “Although Pratt was contained, Kelley escalated the situation by suddenly entering the bathroom under the mistaken belief that Pratt might have been trying to escape through a window. There was no window in the bathroom.”
Court documents state that officers ordered Pratt to show his hands, used tasers, and allegedly fired the shot that killed him.
“This tragedy was completely preventable. Travis was in a contained mental health crisis, and the officers chose to turn it into a shooting,” said attorney David Barber of Thomas Law Offices. “They knew his condition, had the training and time to de-escalate, and instead escalated the situation, creating the danger they later used to justify deadly force.”
A Sept. 19, 2024 statement from Kentucky State Police provided a different account, saying Pratt was attempting to escape through a window and suggesting he may have been armed with a gun.
“Pratt was not carrying a knife or other weapon,” a news release from Thomas Law Offices stated. “There was no window in the bathroom.”
The lawsuit claims there was no sign Pratt intended to harm anyone and argues the situation could have been resolved through de-escalation rather than deadly force. The suit alleges the actions violated Pratt’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
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