COVINGTON, Ky. — The officer who shot and killed a man in Taylor Mill on June 30 was justified in using deadly force, Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said in a release.
Officers from Taylor Mill, Covington, Fort Wright and the Kentucky County Police Department first responded to 3 Grand Avenue in Taylor Mill at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday, June 30 for a reported hostage situation.
Officials said 911 callers reported that their mother was being assaulted by her husband inside the home. According to officials, the man could be heard threatening to shoot the woman and "gut her."
Sanders said officers were familiar with the man, who was in a standoff with police days earlier.
Video released on Thursdays shows officers responding to the scene. Members of Covington SWAT were the first to enter the home. While most of the scene is blocked, you can hear a woman cry for help.
Sanders said Joshua Denny, a 10-year police veteran, found the man standing over the woman with a knife to her chest. Denny can be heard yelling, "Get off her!" and "Drop it!" before firing one round, killing the man.
In a release, Sanders called Denny's actions "heroic" and said he saved the woman's life. His decision comes after KSP's Critical Incident Response Team investigated the shooting.
Sanders also said the man should not have been released from Eastern State Hospital, a long-term mental health treatment facility he was ordered to go to after a judge found him to be a threat to himself and others.
"This case is a sad, but all too common example of how Kentucky fails to protect the public from the mentally ill, and if this isn't addressed, it will not be the last time police have to shoot someone to save an innocent victim," Sanders said in his release.
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