Body camera footage shows LMPD officers fatally shoot man wielding butcher knife

Louisville Metro Police released body camera footage Thursday from a fatal shooting near Dixie Highway on July 25.

Yoel Napoles-Ravelo, 32, was shot and killed in the 6600 block of Eagle Wood Drive, which is off Dixie Highway near the Gene Snyder Freeway, at 9:30 p.m. Napoles' family said he called for help while suffering a mental health episode.

In a 911 call released Thursday, the dispatcher asked Napoles multiple times what was happening but couldn't get an answer, and there was a lot of yelling in the background.

The body camera footage started with Officer Matthew Forbes approaching the residence and telling Napoles to put what he had in his hands down. Forbes then spoke with Napoles' sister outside the home, who told him how her brother was high and acting aggressive, but wasn't normally that way. Police said they found methamphetamine inside the home.

Forbes kept reiterating to Napoles that he wasn't in trouble and just wanted to talk to him through the screened window.

Then, Forbes said, he saw Napoles with a "huge butcher knife in his hand." Napoles punched out the screen and kept going in and out of the window while officers tried talking to him.

Forbes said Napoles kept acting "very erratic" but continued telling him he wasn't in trouble.

Napoles picked up and put down the knife multiple times, then came out the window with the knife in his hand and approached officers. That's when officers used a foam baton launcher, a taser, and three officers fired their firearms at him. Napoles was pronounced dead on the scene.

Forbes, Garret Schmeltz and Kendrick Eaves were identified as the officers involved in the fatal shooting. The Public Integrity Unit is investigating the shooting.

Napoles became a citizen of the United States five years ago and didn't have a criminal record. His family said Napoles only had two prior episodes like this in the past but never to the level of last week.

Two years ago, Louisville launched a Crisis Diversion Team to help when 911 calls show signs of mental distress. The city made an effort to send a non-police response when someone is experiencing suicidal thoughts, addiction issues or hallucinations.

MetroSafe said deflection cannot help in situations where there are safety concerns, so if there is an active threat involving a weapon, police respond to the scene.