COVINGTON, Ky. — Prosecutors announced there will be no charges against two Villa Hills police officers who shot and killed a man after he pulled a handgun on them during a traffic stop on Interstate 71/75 last month.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders announced that officers Sean Dooley and Jacob Bolton acted in self-defense.
The two officers stopped a red Ford F-150 truck for a traffic violation on southbound Interstate 71/75 near Interstate 275 in Erlanger around 11 p.m. on Feb. 20.
When Bolton and Dooley approached the truck, Randall Lockaby, 57 of Manchester, brandished a handgun. Sanders said Dooley, seen on body cam video, smacked the barrel of Lockaby’s weapon away from him as he retreated around the front of the truck.
Officers then fired shots which struck Lockaby, who was transported to St. Elizabeth in Florence and later died. Neither officer was injured.
Later, investigators found more firearms in Lockaby's vehicle. In all, he possessed two 9-millimeter handguns, a Derringer .22 and a Taurus .357. Lockaby also has a prior felony conviction out of Pennsylvania, prosecutors found.
"I think it is very heroic, the effort of both, Officer Dooley to save his own life by smacking the barrel of the gun that Mr. Lockaby produced away from him and retreating around the front of the truck while he opened fire, and especially the performance of Officer Bolton," Sanders said during Friday's press conference.
