Updated: January 7th, 2005 11:48:55 AM
Louisville, Kentucky, Police Shoot Two in Nine Hours
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BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- In a nine-hour span, police fatally shot a man armed with a knife and critically wounded an ax-wielding teenager, drawing fresh complaints from civil-rights activists in a city already troubled by a rash of officer shootings.
Police said the two men shot Wednesday night and early Thursday were drawing close to officers and ignored commands to drop their weapons. Police were investigating but said the officers appeared to follow proper procedure.
Activists decried the shootings, saying police should stop waging "target practice" on suspects.
Louisville police have fatally shot 13 people - including seven blacks - since 1998. The two suspects in the latest shootings were white.
"Something is terribly wrong with the psyche and the mentality of this police department," said the Rev. Louis Coleman, head of the Justice Resource Center.
"This is not a black issue - this is a human issue," added the Rev. James Tennyson, another activist with the same group.
Donald Neifert, 40, was fatally shot Wednesday night as officers sought him on a warrant charging him with intimidating a witness. A few hours later, 19-year-old Brayden Cole Adrio was shot in the chest after his mother called officers to say the ax-wielding teen was out of control. Adrio was hospitalized in critical condition.
The officers, both of whom are white, were placed on paid administrative leave.
A year ago, a white Louisville police officer fatally shot a black teenage drug suspect, inciting protests. The officer was acquitted last year of murder and other charges. He was fired by Police Chief Robert White but is now seeking reinstatement.