Body camera footage shows Louisville police shooting man armed with a knife

Kentucky State Police released body camera footage Friday that shows what led up to the fatal police shooting of a Bowling Green man in the Highlands earlier this month.

The shooting happened early Friday, March 18. Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department's Fifth Division responded to a report that a man was armed with a knife on Barret Avenue.

Capt. Paul Blanton, the state police public affairs commander, said officers found the suspect, identified as Riley Stephens of Bowling Green, Kentucky, in a business parking lot armed with a knife. Blanton said Stephens had been using the knife to cut himself on the arms and torso.

LMPD said officers gave verbal commands in an attempt to deescalate the situation and "attempted to subdue" Stephens with "less lethal methods."

"Mr. Stephens refused commands to drop his knife and proceeded to advance toward the officers," Blanton said. That's when Officer Malcom Miller, a 22-year veteran of LMPD, fired his weapon, hitting Stephens.

"Officers attempted life-saving measures; however, the man was pronounced deceased on scene. No officers were injured," LMPD spokesperson Alicia Smiley said at the time of the shooting.

Body camera footage shows officers approach Stephens in a parking lot with a taser, which was used in an attempt to subdue him. Footage from another officer's body camera shows Stephens approach an officer with a knife as police issue commands for him to drop it. That's when Miller can be heard firing at Stephens.

A witness at the scene told WDRB News she saw a white man without a shirt, with blood on his face and chest, who appeared to be getting aggressive with officers.

Manoj Uppal, who owns Barret Liquors, said his surveillance camera captured the incident, and he has offered to let LMPD investigators use it. Uppal said police told him the man had a knife, and he saw the man "jumping" at officers.

KSP investigates all police shootings in Kentucky. Blanton stressed that the video is "only one piece of evidence" in the department's investigation.

"Our agency is committed to responsible transparency to ensure every investigation is conducted with honesty, integrity and strong moral and ethical principles," he said.

Miller remains on administrative leave as KSP continues to investigate the shooting.
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