A Cuban doctor residing in Kentucky, United States, died after being shot by officers of the Metropolitan Police of Louisville in front of his family on the night of last Thursday, a tragic event that is under investigation by the authorities.
The victim was identified as Yoel Nápoles Ravelo, 32 years old, by his family members, who witnessed his final moments alive. The man was armed with a knife when he was shot by the officers, according to reports from several local media.
The officers responded to the house on the 6600 block of Eagle Wood Drive, in a neighborhood in southwest Louisville, after receiving a 911 call around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday reporting an "unknown active problem," the interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD), Paul Humphrey, informed the press.
Humphrey explained that when the police officers arrived at the scene, the relatives who were in the house from which the call was made told them that there was a man inside and that he was agitated, which is why they exited the residence.
According to their report, while the agents were outside trying to dialogue with him, Nápoles came out of the house with a knife in hand and started to advance towards them.
The interim police chief stated that the officers ordered the man several times to drop the knife, but he did not do so.
According to Humphrey, the agents used less lethal weapons, including a 40-millimeter foam baton, a bullet, and a Taser stun gun, to try to stop him when he approached them, but then they opened fire and shot the man several times.
The police attempted to provide first aid to Nápoles, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The television station WDRB, affiliated with the Fox network, revealed that the Naples family, who did not want to speak in front of the cameras, said that it was he who "called 911 because he wanted medical help, believing he was having hallucinations." The relatives stated that they "trusted that the LMPD officers and others at the scene would help them."
They said, in addition, that the Cuban spoke perfect English, so he would have understood the agents' orders to drop the knife, and that he was also carrying a Bible.
Humphrey told the press that it was a tragic situation. "It is evident that this is a tragedy," he stated. "We want to acknowledge the loss of human lives. It is a distressing moment for both the agents and the family. However, we are grateful that no one else was injured."
A neighbor named Heather Powell commented to the WLKY channel that it was all chaos. "We didn't know what was happening, but we heard people screaming," she said.
Minutes later, he heard five or six shots. "It was a feeling of pain, you know? I heard the pain and sadness in a woman's scream, she was devastated, with a broken heart," Powell expressed.
Nápoles had emigrated years ago from Cuba to the U.S. and had become a U.S. citizen, his relatives said.
WDRB published a photo provided by the relatives of the young Cuban, in which he is seen holding his doctorate in Medicine, recently obtained in the city of Santiago de Cuba. CiberCuba verified in online documents that the doctor graduated in 2016.
The Public Integrity Unit of the LMPD is investigating the case and reported that, according to the department's protocol, the images from the body cameras will be made public within 10 days following the incident.
This Monday, the Louisville Police released the names of the three officers who fired their weapons during the fatal incident. They were identified as Kendrick Eaves, Matthew Forbes, and Garret Schmeltz, reported WLKY.
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