By Mike Stunson
Lexington Herald-Leader
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Louisville police officers tried to reason with a man with a screwdriver and use a Taser to subdue him, but the confrontation was fatal, newly released body camera footage shows.
The footage shows officers Devin Dawes and Matthew Arden shooting and killing a man armed with a screwdriver, police said.
Police were called to Crawford Avenue, off Dixie Highway in Louisville, at 8 p.m. Sunday for reports of an intoxicated and disorderly man at an abandoned house, police said.
The man, 45-year-old Russell Bowman, was commanded many times to drop the screwdriver he was wielding, video shows. Officers told him they did not want to hurt him.
Three officers fired their Tasers, but he charged toward one of the officers. Dawes and Arden fired their weapons at Bowman.
Both Dawes and Arden have been with Louisville police since 2015, police said Monday. They have been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol.
“Being a police officer requires split second decisions that others will judge,” Chief Steve Conrad said Monday. “Despite this, there are brave men and women willing to put on the uniform and do this job. As officers, we hope we never have to fire a weapon.”
Bowman has an extensive criminal history, which includes convictions of terroristic threatening, public intoxication, fourth-degree assault and shoplifting, court records show. Last year, he was convicted of using a crowbar to bust out multiple windows of Louisville businesses.
The brother of Bowman told WAVE 3 News that Russell was likely under the influence of drugs, which made him unrecognizable and unpredictable.
©2018 the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)