David McAtee, a beloved Louisville, KY, chef and BBQ owner, was killed early yesterday morning by law enforcement, according to The Courier-Journal.
The incident, which is now under investigation by local, state, and national authorities, occurred when law enforcement officers say they were attempting to break up a crowd at a Dino's Food Mart parking lot near where McAtee operated his business YaYa's BBQ.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told BuzzFeed News in a statement that Louisville Metro Police Department and the Kentucky National Guard said they "were fired upon" and McAtee was killed when officers "returned fire."
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced yesterday that the Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad had been fired after learning the two officers involved in the shooting had not activated their body cameras. They have both been put on administrative leave, according to CBS News.
McAtee's death has had a huge impact on the city of Louisville, where he was known as "The BBQ Man." His mother, Odessa Riley, described him as a "community pillar" to The Courier-Journal.
"He left a great legend behind. He was a good person. Everybody around him would say that," she said. "My son didn't hurt nobody. He didn't do nothing to nobody."
She said he would often feed police for free, as well as anyone in need. Louisville's newly appointed police chief Robert Schroeder said McAtee made "sure our officers had a good meal on their shifts and becoming a good friend to many of those officers," according to BuzzFeed News.
As Representative Charles Booker said to CBS, this was yet another blow to a city that is already mourning the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was shot and killed as police opened fire in her apartment in the middle of the night.
"This is a travesty. It is devastating to a community that is already grieving and in pain, and it was absolutely avoidable. I am calling for a full and transparent investigation into this killing," he said in an additional statement.
You can donate to a GoFundMe for McAtee's family here.
