Woman named in warrant for man shot dead by US Marshals says he hit her, stole car

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields said the man who was shot and killed by the U.S. Marshals task force was shot twice in the front of his body in Chickasaw.

Shields provided an update on the officer-involved shooting investigation of 25-year-old Omari Cryer during a Metro Council budget meeting on Tuesday afternoon. She said according to his autopsy report, Cryer was shot by an officer or officers with the U.S. Marshals Task Force.

Shields previously provided early details on the shooting on Monday afternoon, stating officers with LMPD and the U.S. Marshals Task Force were attempting to serve a felony warrant on Cryer the morning of May 20 in the 800 block of Sutcliffe Avenue.

The warrant was for felony domestic abuse charges including strangulation, assault and terroristic threatening.

Cryer was armed and ran from officers attempting to serve the warrant, Shields said. When Cryer was stopped by a fence, Marshals shot him.

The LMPD Public Integrity Unit has not released body camera footage as part of the ongoing investigation. Shields said on Monday that the video, as well as a full autopsy report, would be made available to the public.

As details on the investigation are light, including what led to U.S. Marshals opening fire, family and friends have been calling for transparency from LMPD to release more details on the shooting.

His enraged family was there as officers investigated the shooting scene on Sutcliffe Avenue. Days later, people chanted Cryer’s name in the streets of Louisville, calling for answers.

As Cryer’s case ages, what has become increasingly clear is why U.S. Marshals went to the Sutcliffe Avenue home on May 20 in the first place.

“It was a felony arrest warrant, issued by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and dated May 16, 2022,” Shields said following the shooting.

LMPD secured the warrant but needed the U.S. Marshals’ assistance executing it.

“They work with us to serve high-risk, felony warrants,” Shields said.

Shields said officers arrived at the home on Sutcliffe on the morning of May 20, but she didn’t say whether Cryer lived there. Despite this, Shields said officers found Cryer, who fled with a gun in his possession and was followed by officers onto private property. When they reached a fence, one of the deputy Marshals opened fire and killed him.

The identity of the officer who fired the fatal shot has not been revealed.

“Offhand, there’s several on the task force,” Shields said. “Certainly, the names of any officers involved in the shooting will be released, yes.”

Another point of contention: several witnesses informed WAVE that officers only presented a warrant after Cryer was already shot dead, which Shields clarified.

“While we were on scene, we did have to secure a second arrest warrant to search the premises,” Shields said. “The shooting was on private property, and so there’s been talk that the warrant was not secured until post incident. That’s incorrect. There’s a second warrant we had to get to allow us onto the private property to process the scene.”

WAVE secured a copy of the initial warrant issued for Cryer, which revealed he is accused of punching a sleeping woman, hitting her in the face with a gun, threatening to kill her, and choking her with his forearm. The woman listed on the warrant is Antiya Parker, the mother of one of Cryer’s nine children.

“Every couple has their issues,” Parker told WAVE. “Every couple has their arguments and stuff, and a couple of months ago, he had stolen my car, and I told the police, ‘Hey, he took my car.’”

“Did he lay hands on you in some way?” WAVE reporter Kathleen Ninke asked.

“Yes he did, yes he did,” Parker said.

“Do you think that’s the reason they have that warrant?”

“They could put that on him, I don’t know,” Parker said.

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