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LOUISVILLE — Four Louisville Metro Police officers remain on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into the use of deadly force that took the life of a Jeffersonville man. DeMonJhea Jordan, 21, was the suspect in an armed robbery at a Metro PCS store in Louisville.

He died Tuesday at University of Louisville Hospital shortly after being transported there following an “exchange of gunfire” with police. Around 12:07 p.m. police responded to the report of a robbery at the 2600 block of West Market Street, LMPD Lt. Aaron Crowell said during a Wednesday news conference. A description matching Jordan's was broadcast over police radio and minutes later, officer Joshua Weyer located Jordan at the 400 block of 29th Street.

When Weyer tried to make contact, Crowell said, Jordan fled South on 29th Street, brandishing a handgun.” Officers Benjamin Dean and Kody DeSpain and Detective Joseph Fox arrived on scene and “exchanged gunfire with Jordan as he fled on 29th Street,” Crowell said.

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The LMPD released body camera footage of the three officers who were involved in the shooting; the fourth, a detective, is not required to wear the camera due to the nature of the work, LMPD Police Chief Steve Conrad said during the news conference.

One video shows the first officer to arrive stop his car and get out, heading toward Jordan, who was carrying a gun and what appears to be a red bag or item of clothing. Jordan is seen moving away from the officer and gunshots are heard, with the officer yelling “shots fired!” Conrad said that the cameras have a 30-second buffer before sound begins to record.

Footage from another officer's bodycam shows gunfire stopping and an officer yelling at Jordan, who has fallen to the ground, to “put your hands up, (expletive!)” footage shows officers now close to Jordan, standing over the bleeding man. He is conscious, but not appearing to move or resist. They turn him over and put handcuffs on before checking his injuries, noting bullets in areas that included his chest and leg, and began medical treatment. A gun was lying on the ground between his legs.

Natalie Malone, Jordan's mother, told newsgathering partner Wave 3 her son may have made a bad choice if he robbed the Metro PCS store, but that the police used excessive force.

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“They gunned him down? Why so many gunshots?” she said. “And then, on top of that, you're going to handcuff him?”

Jordan's father, Larry Jordan Jr., could not be reached by the News and Tribune on Friday. The elder Jordan is a board member of Community Action of Southern Indiana and the Jeffersonville Parks Authority Board, and is a candidate for Clark County Council.

Larry Jordan has posted a message on his Facebook page, thanking everyone who has reached out in support of him and his family.

"This has been hard on me, to see the LMPD gunned down my son like that is unbelievable," the post reads. "I ask all those who wish to retaliate stay calm. We will get justice!!!"

Also listed on Jordan's Facebook page were the funeral arrangements for his son: a wake 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, at Trinity Baptist Church, 1506 Spring St., Jeffersonville; and funeral at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 2, at Friendship Baptist Church in Louisville, with viewing 9-10:30 a.m.

Crowell said during the news conference that DeMonJhea Jordan did fire shots, but he could not say whether he or the officers fired first. Footage from one different camera shows an officer pulling up to the scene and shoot five rounds through his car's front windshield before the vehicle was fully stopped.

When asked by a reporter at the news conference if that action follows protocol, Crowell said he couldn't speak to that.

“I'm not in a position to discuss protocol,” he said. “But officers are trained to deal with a threat with whatever tool they have at hand, depending on what the threat is.”

The incident Tuesday is the fourth officer-involved shooting in Louisville this year — all within the past month. LMPD spokesman Dwight Mitchell said Friday that is nearly as many as there were in all of 2017.

“This is a dangerous job,” Conrad told reporters at the news conference. “We hope we never have to use deadly force but this is a situation where officers were faced with deadly force and they responded in a manner — based on the preliminary investigation — consistent with policy, practice and training."

According to the Louisville Metro Police Standard Operating Procedures, which is available on the LMPD website, “deadly force, as with all uses of force, may not be resorted to unless other reasonable alternatives have been clearly exhausted, would clearly be ineffective or exigent circumstances exist,” it reads.

“Deadly force is authorized in defense of oneself or another when the officer reasonably believes, based on the facts and circumstances, that the person against whom the force is used poses an immediate threat of death with serious injury to the officer or another person.”

Under department policy, officers involved in any use-of-force situations, whether deadly force or otherwise, are placed under paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

No officers were hit by the gunfire, but one car and one home were struck. There were no other injuries.

At the time of his death, Jordan was serving a one-year probation sentence for a level 6 felony of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, and a class A misdemeanor for carrying a handgun without a license, both in Clark County.

The Jefferson County Coroner's office confirmed Friday that an autopsy had been performed on Jordan the day before, but said the official results won't be confirmed for several weeks. No information from the autopsy would be released to the public, however, while the investigation is ongoing.

Conrad said that the three videos from body cameras do not tell the whole story of what happened that day, and investigators will continue to interview officers and witnesses.

“Because these videos offer only a limited perspective of these events, it is imperative that we continue and complete a thorough investigation into this matter,” he said. “We owe that to the officers, the suspect, the suspect's family and the community.”

Aprile Rickert is the crime and courts reporter at the News and Tribune. Contact her via email at aprile.rickert@newsandtribune.com or by phone at 812-206-2115. Follow her on Twitter: @Aperoll27.

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Originally posted by RAMIUS:
Man, his ears must be ringing after killing that windshield.

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DeMonJhea Jordan, 21

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“They gunned him down? Why so many gunshots?” she said. “And then, on top of that, you're going to handcuff him?”

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"This has been hard on me, to see the LMPD gunned down my son like that is unbelievable," the post reads.

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"I ask all those who wish to retaliate stay calm. We will get justice!!!"

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Originally posted by Copefree:
< snip >
DeMonJhea made some bad life choices, it appears.
< snip >

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Originally posted by Ronin101:
that was some serious shooting skill!! 25 yards+ through a windshield in a moving car with multiple hits.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
Looked like the cops already there (on foot behind the parked car) had shot the guy as he was already on the ground when the cop in the video shot from the car.
The guy shooting through the windshield was lucky not to hurt himself or hit one of the cops on foot near the perp. Not sure that was a great idea.
The officer in charge seemed to be taking control of the situation to protect any evidence since the criminal was likely in the process of checking out by then.

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Originally posted by DonDraper:
I'm no expert, but wtf is up with shooting a suspect lying on the ground through your windshield?? Seems a bit dangerous, as those bullets could have ended up anywhere??

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DeMonJhea