Kentucky State Police has released additional information on an officer-involved shooting at Baptist Health Hardin (BHH) in Elizabethtown.
Kentucky State Police Post 4 Public Affairs Officer Scotty Sharp said the investigation showed that the Elizabethtown Police Department (EPD) received multiple reports regarding an armed male inside BHH who was making “numerous threats to hospital staff and patients.”
Police were also told the suspect, 39-year-old George Lee Jr., of Radcliff, “had fired his weapon inside the hospital before their arrival,” Sharp said.
When officers arrived, they encountered several people running out of the hospital. Officers entered BHH and encountered Lee. The suspect then “turned toward officers with the firearm and it was at that time EPD officer Lieutenant Alex Ruiz fired his agency-issued weapon one time, striking Lee,” according to Sharp.
Lee was stabilized at the scene and airlifted to University of Louisville Hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
In accordance with EPD standard operating procedures, Ruiz, a 10-year veteran of EPD, was placed on paid administrative leave.
These preliminary findings are subject to change as KSP investigators continue this ongoing investigation, Sharp said.
In 2019, Lee was charged with possession of a handgun by convicted felon, third-degree assault of police/probation officer and possession of methamphetamine in Fulton County.
Lee in 2016 was jailed on a commitment order in Bullitt County, online records show.
(Photo: George Lee Jr. mugshot from arrest in 2018 in Hardin Co.)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
