A holiday gathering at a Louisville, Kentucky park turned into a scene of violence that left two men dead and several others wounded. On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2016, 32-year-old William D. McKee was fatally shot at Shawnee Park. The shooting erupted during the annual Juice Bowl festivities, a long-standing community tradition. While the event was attended by many, including the city's mayor, the violence was said to have occurred away from the main football games.
The incident,
which took place around 1:30 p.m., sent attendees scrambling for cover as numerous gunshots rang out. When the chaos subsided, McKee and another man, 26-year-old Michael L. Carter, were found dead at the scene from gunshot wounds. Five other people were also injured in the shooting but were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The initial investigation suggested that the shooting stemmed from some sort of dispute that escalated.
In the weeks following the shooting, the Louisville Metro Police Department continued to investigate the deadly altercation. Just before Christmas, authorities announced a significant development in the case based on ballistic evidence. They determined that Michael L. Carter had been involved in a physical altercation, during which he pulled out a firearm. Police stated that Carter first shot and wounded another individual before fatally shooting William D. McKee. Carter was then shot and killed by an unknown individual at the scene. While this revelation clarified the sequence of events that led to McKee's death, the case remained an open homicide as police continued to seek information about the person who shot Carter.
