Police arrested a man in the fatal shooting of a protester during a demonstration on the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Police said the suspect, Steven Lopez, opened fire on Jefferson Square Park on Saturday, and Assistant Police Chief Robert Schroeder said that Lopez had participated in the protests himself, but that other participants asked him to leave because of suspicious behavior, Reuters reported.
The shooting victim has been identified as Tyler Gerth, a 27-year-old photographer, according to WLKY, a CBS affiliate in the Louisville area. Police also said López was injured after bystanders responded to the fire and beat him in the leg.
The park has been a nerve center for the city’s protests over Taylor’s death. The protesters returned on Sunday afternoon to keep an eye on Gerth, according to a WLKY reporter.
A vigil for Tyler Gerth is taking place here at Jefferson Square Park #BreonnaTaylor @WLKY pic.twitter.com/R1yNF4h8Bl
– Shaquille Lord (@ShaqWLKY) June 28, 2020
“Tyler was incredibly kind, tender, and generous, with deep convictions and faith. It was this sense of justice that led Tyler to be part of the peaceful protests that advocate the destruction of systemic racism within our society’s systems, “Gerth’s family said in a statement to the media.
“This, combined with his passion for photography, led to a strong need within him to be there, documenting the movement, capturing and communicating the messages of peace and justice,” they added.
Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was shot dead by police on an order not to touch on March 13. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was present at the apartment and said she shot officers after they broke in without touching or identifying herself. The three officers allegedly fired 20 shots.
Taylor is one of several unarmed black people whose deaths have served as a hotspot for protests that have ravaged the nation in recent weeks, but, unlike George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, no one has been arrested in connection with his death.
Brett Hankison, one of three officers who followed the arrest warrant, was fired, and Schroeder said last week that he violated the department’s policies on the use of force and “blindly” fired 10 shots at the apartment. Taylor.
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