One of the two Louisville police officers shot during protests over a grand jury’s decision in the Breonna Taylor case suffered a wound to the abdomen and remains hospitalized, authorities said Thursday.
Officer Robinson Desroches, who has been on the job for 1 1/2 years, is in stable condition, said Robert Schroeder, interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
The other officer wounded in the shooting, Maj. Aubrey Gregory, commander of the department’s Special Operatives Division who has been leading police response to the protests, was shot in the hip and has been released from the hospital, Schroeder said. Gregory has been with the department for 21 1/2 years.
“We are extremely fortunate that these two officers will recover,” Schroeder told reporters.
The shooting suspect, identified as Larynzo D. Johnson, has been charged with 14 counts of wanton endangerment and two counts of assault.
Police arrested 127 people during protests sparked by a grand jury’s decision not to charge any officers for Taylor’s killing during a March 13 police raid at her apartment. One officer whose gunfire hit the apartment of Taylor’s neighbor was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment.
In anticipation of further protests Thursday night, the city will again enforce a 9 p.m. curfew, and Mayor Greg Fischer urged people to limit their demonstrations to daylight hours.
“We never had control over what (the) attorney general or the grand jury would do” in Taylor’s case,” Fischer said.
“We do have control over what happens next in our city. I’m asking everyone to reject violence and join me in committing ourselves to the work of reform.”
Apart from the criminal investigation into Taylor’s death, the city has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by her family.
