On Wednesday night, protesters took to streets across the nation to call for justice for Breonna Taylor following the grand jury decision to not charge Louisville Police in her death. In downtown Louisville, amid those protests, two metro police officers were shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the Associated Press, a suspect has since been taken into custody, and Interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said that both cops are expected to recover, although one officer had to undergo surgery.
“I am very concerned about the safety of our officers,” Schroeder said, USA Today reports. “Obviously, we’ve had two officers shot tonight and that is very serious. It’s a very dangerous condition.”
The shooting of the officers drew quick response from officials, including Donald Trump, who tweeted out “The Federal Government stands behind you and is ready to help.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear released a video message shortly after news broke to denounce the shooting and request that people “go home.”
“Many people are feeling powerful emotions. Whether that’s frustration, anger, concern, and many people have been out on the streets, especially in Louisville tonight, giving voice to those emotions,” Beshear said. “But sadly, we have seen at least one individual turn what were not violent ways of expressing ourselves, into the shooting of at least two law enforcement officers. We know that the answer to violence, is never violence, and we are thinking about those two officers and their families tonight.”
“Go home tonight. There will be many times over the coming days where there will be an opportunity to be heard and so many people are listening right now. As your governor, I’ve promised to listen,” the governor added.