This is somewhat unexpected. I haven’t commented on the this story until now because the details were so foggy, but it originally appeared that David McAtee was caught in the cross fire when police shot and killed him several nights ago. In fact, the police chief had already been fired over the incident because body cameras were not activated.

This happened in Louisville, KY.

This is David McAtee.

He owned YaYa’s BBQ in Louisville, KY. He was in the barbecue business for 30 yrs and aspired to open up a brick & mortar restaurant. He fed cops who came by for free.

He was shot and killed by police today. His life mattered. #BreonnaTaylor #DavidMcAtee pic.twitter.com/SOWi65DrqN

— Kristen Clarke ☎️866-OUR-VOTE (@KristenClarkeJD) June 2, 2020

Now, new evidence has completely changed the narrative. Louisville’s Democrat mayor released video this morning purporting to show McAtee discharging a pistol right before police opened fire in response.

Police: Video shows David McAtee firing shots before being hit in west Louisville shooting https://t.co/CnROtlT6yX | @christopherotts pic.twitter.com/uB4tn04lAa

— WDRB News (@WDRBNews) June 2, 2020

At about 2:19 in the video, you’ll see McAtee lean out the door, hold his arm up and appear fire a gun. He ducks in and then back out again, firing again at 2:27. He’s then hit as police return fire and the gun is dropped on the mat in front of the door. He collapses within seconds back inside.

Later in the video is the second camera angle which shows police and national guardsmen approaching while the bystanders pile inside. As the police approach the door, one appears to be holding a non-lethal weapon that likely shoots rubber bullets. The first shots from the building send them scattering backwards. We know it is McAtee doing the shooting because of the inside camera angle.

The question of who shot first is the next thing to tackle and the second angle is pretty definitive that it was not the police. The police didn’t even have their guns drawn when the first shot comes from the building. It takes them about 6 seconds and only after they receive a second volley of fire from the building’s doorway before they open up and you see ricochets from their return fire.

This entire thing is perplexing to me. Why did he start shooting at police? And why did he do it more than once, eventually resulting in his death? This is a guy who owned a business and seemingly had no reason to do what he did. Was this a case of mistaken identity, where he thought he was chasing off some bad characters and it turned out to be the police? I don’t know but there’s so much that doesn’t make sense.

What this does show though is that it’s always best to wait for more information if a situation isn’t abundantly clear. We’ll see what other evidence comes out that can fill in some of the blanks still left.