Jeffersonville mayor, council commend police

Clark County

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February 24, 2009

Praise offered after Thursday night shooting

By DAVID A. MANN The News and Tribune Tue Feb 24, 2009, 01:52 PM EST

Two police officers wounded during a Thursday night shooting at a Jeffersonville hotel have been moved out of the intensive care unit at University of Louisville hospital and are still in serious but stable condition.

That’s according to Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan, who offered praise for the two officers, the entire police force and neighboring communities during a Monday night meeting of the Jeffersonville City Council.

“I commend the Jeffersonville Police Department and all its members for the way they handled Thursday night and Friday,” the mayor said.

Patrolman Keith Broady and Cpl. Dan Lawhorn were shot when a call regarding suspicious activity at Jeffersonville’s Motel 6 turned violent. Broady was shot in the chest; Lawhorn was shot in the leg.

Galligan said Lawhorn nearly died because of the amount of blood he lost on the scene after a bullet hit an artery. Broady, who was shot outside of his protective vest, sustained damaged to several vital organs. Galligan said it would be a long recovery for the pair.

Police responding to the call never panicked and stayed professional and that’s why the two are still alive today, he said.

The alleged shooter, 37-year-old Robert Datillo, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday at a south Louisville home, following a 10-hour standoff with several police agencies.

Galligan called the manhunt that followed the shooting a team effort by every agency in metro Louisville.

“Officers Broady and Lawhorn exhibited their courage by charging head-long into a dangerous situation and performing their jobs with the professionalism and selflessness that we have come to expect and admire in our police force,” Council President Connie Sellers said in a prepared statement.

“God bless them for their courage,” she said, also thanking neighboring agencies.

In other business

• The council passed an ordinance that created a new zoning classification in the downtown area. The new class — known as the Riverfront Business Overlay District — will go from Court Avenue to the Ohio River between the Kennedy Bridge and the Second Street Bridge.

It drops a requirement that businesses create new parking spaces in the area. A recent parking study suggests there is ample parking in the area, planning director Jim Urban said.

• Resident Keith LeVell told council members that the city is missing out on fines it could be collecting from parking-ordinance violators. He recently took a less-than-an-hour ride around downtown Jeffersonville, in which he noticed at least 10 violations, he said.

If someone wrote 15, $25 parking tickets an hour during every business day, the city could collect up to $780,000 per year, he said.

“These are real numbers. These go on every day. It’s an untapped well of finances that this city is missing out on every day,” he said, showing pictures of the violators to the council.

Galligan called the presentation very informative and said he would speak with police department officials and see what can be done.

• Faulty systems that routinely call police and fire departments to false alarm scenes could cost users under a new ordinance adopted by the council.

If a faulty burglar or fire alarm sounds without an actual emergency happening more than three times in a calendar year, its owners will be levied a $150 fine. The fifth time it happens, owners will pay a $250 fine. And on the sixth occurrence, owners would pay a $350 fine.

The ordinance was brought forth by city attorney Darrin Wilder. Wilder was correcting language and updating the fine schedule that had been in place for a similar false-alarm ordinance.