LMPD chief: Off-duty deputy fatally shot was ‘targeted and ambushed’

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – An off-duty Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy who was fatally shot while working as security at a car lot was believed to be targeted and ambushed, Louisville Metro Police Department chief Erika Shields said.

The shooting happened at Rockford Lane Auto Sales, located in the 2600 block of Rockford Lane, around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, LMPD spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said.

Police said the deputy, identified as Brandon Shirley, 26, was in uniform inside of his personal vehicle when someone walked up and shot him.

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Shirley was taken to University of Louisville Hospital where he died from his injuries.

Shirley was described by Lt. Col. Carl Yates as a good deputy who was well-liked.

Sheriff John Aubrey said Shirley joined the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on March 15, 2019, where he worked in the court security division. He was recently awarded the Medal of Valor for actions he took during a shooting in Jefferson Square Park.

Aubrey said LMPD would conduct the investigation into Shirley’s death.

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No arrests have been made. But Shields said investigators may have possible suspects.

“We will make an arrest,” she said.

Investigators are looking at surveillance video from neighboring businesses, like Rockford Lane Liquors.

“They were here this morning looking at it,” manager Jacob Maier said. “It’s kind of hard to see because we only have so much that we can get over there. I don’t know if they have surveillance or not but ours only reaches like to the cars a little bit so you can see shadows and stuff, but nothing that would be like definitive.”

Neighbors in the area of the shooting said it was a scary situation. Angela Clark heard the shots fired in the early morning hours.

She said she had seen Shirley working in that lot several times, making what happened to him even more tragic.

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“It’s sad,” she said. “You said he was only 26? He didn’t have a chance to live his life.”

Other neighbors said to think he was a target is a painful thought.

“It hurts a lot,” long-time neighbor Brenda Berg said. “This is where I grew up from when I was five years old, and it’s just not what it used to be.”

Shirley was the fifth line of duty death in the history of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Yates said. Four of the five deaths were from gunshot wounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the anonymous police tip line at (502) 574-LMPD.

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