LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new squad at the Louisville Metro Police Department is taking aim at gun violence, specifically targeting nonfatal shootings.
On Wednesday morning, officials announced the creation of the LMPD's Nonfatal Shooting Squad. Consisting of two sergeants and 16 detectives, the squad is led by Lt. Stephen Lacefield and will focus on solving gun violence cases that did not result in death.
"I am surely confident we will be able to solve more cases and be able to actually look at those individuals who are driving our violent crime in our beautiful city, Louisville," LMPD Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said.
Two agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will also work directly with the squad.
Lt. Stephen Lacefield, leader of LMPD's Nonfatal Shooting Squad. Image taken June 14, 2023.
"Often times, the same people who pull the trigger in nonfatal shootings commit homicides and other crimes," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "So we want to elevate the work of investigating nonfatal shootings."
Janae White, who was shot six times in 2021 while pregnant with her son, Javien, hopes the new team can bring answers for families that she never received.
"I think, sometimes, the misconceptions of someone surviving a shooting goes into people thinking that they are OK. However, those cases should still be just as high as a priority," White said Wednesday. "I don't think that just because we survived our case that we should kind of be swept under the rug or put on the backburner. I hope, with this new division, that that allows the detectives to make nonfatal shooting survivors' cases a priority."
Investigators with the Nonfatal Shooting Squad were required to attend 40 hours of specialized training with the International Homicide Investigators Association as well as 40 hours of instruction in LMPD's Criminal Investigations Course. Training included topics such as crime scene investigation, evidence processing, lab capabilities, interview and interrogation, cellular analysis and suspect development and elimination.
Additional training will conducted on a weekly basis, and LMPD investigators will work closely with ATF to seek federal prosecution of individuals charged with violent crimes.
Janae and Javien White
This year, LMPD said there have been 201 nonfatal shootings in Louisville. Since forming 30 days ago, the Nonfatal Shooting Squad has been assigned 40 of those active cases. The division has closed six and made nine arrests.
"They were already working nonfatal shootings within the eight divisions, so we just selected those individuals from those eight divisions to come together and work as a team," Gwinn-Villaroel said.
White's story has come full circle as she now uses her experience to do what she can to help others. In May, she accepted a job at UofL Health as a community health worker, a trauma interventionist specifically working with other survivors and connecting them to short- and long-term resources.
White and her team see hundreds of patients each year, most of whom are survivors of shootings or stabbings. And while she still hopes for answers in her case, she feels like she can connect with patients because she knows what they're going through.
"Despite not having answers, I still look forward to doing my work every day," White said. "I want to continue to help other people and I would like to show them, through my bravery, that they too can re-enter society without having to live in fear. They can turn this into a positive."
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