When Lousville Metro Police Officer Andrea Rice arrived at a small brick home off Old Shepherdsville Road, she saw an injured woman standing out front.
Seconds later,
a naked man began walking toward Rice, disregarding orders her commands to stop, witnesses and police said.
“He had an ornery look on his face,” said neighbor Larry Gaus, who saw the incident while driving to work. “I mean, he looked like he had full intentions of doing somebody harm.”
Rice tried to use her Taser to stop the man, who police identified as 24-year-old
Joseph Starcher. When he continued forward,
she drew her handgun and shot him, Police Chief Robert White said.
Though wounded, Starcher kept advancing, and after a “tussle,” he got Rice’s weapon and shot her twice in the thigh, White said.
Starcher finally was subdued after other officers who had been dispatched to the house used their Tasers on him.
She was in good condition at the hospital, White said. White didn’t say how many times Starcher was shot or where. Starcher was listed in serious but stable condition at University Hospital last night.
Starcher’s girlfriend and a neighbor who was outside trying to intervene in the domestic dispute were injured in the shooting. Both were listed in good condition at University Hospital, but it was unclear if they were struck by the officer’s shots or the suspect’s shots.
Starcher is charged with attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of wanton endangerment, disarming a police officer and resisting arrest.
He also faces a charge of trafficking a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school stemming from the incident. His arrest citation says officers searching his home found 10 baggies of suspected marijuana in an underwear drawer.
All the charges against him are felonies except for resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor.
[...]
Neighbors tried to intervene in a fight between a man and his girlfriend, calling police, White said.
Gaus said his attention was first drawn by a police car, then he saw a naked man walking toward the officer.
Gaus said the officer backed up as she ordered the man to stop.
“She started running backwards and he started running at her and she opened fire, which didn’t seem to slow him down at all,” Gaus said.
From his car, Gaus said he watched the officer fall, then saw the man pick up her gun. He said Rice was able to get up and try to run from him.
“He started running toward her and just opened fire,” Gaus said. “He fired until the gun was empty.”
White confirmed Rice’s gun was the only weapon used and that it was emptied of bullets.
[...]
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Good thing I'm not a cop.
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