LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Who was Joshua Hagans, the man Lexington police say they were attempting to make contact with late Thursday night before an officer-involved shooting? Not a lot has been shared with the public.
Hagans was due to appear in Fayette County Circuit Court for an arraignment just hours before the shooting on September 8. It is not clear whether he showed up or not.
A grand jury decided in August there was enough evidence to charge Hagans with three counts of sexual abuse of a victim under the age of twelve — from an incident that allegedly happened more than 18 years ago. It is not known whether that incident was related to last night's shooting.
Police say they were there because of a trespassing call and a delayed assault report. However, they did not clarify when the trespassing happened and what delayed assault they were referring to.
LEX 18 went through various methods to reach out to Hagans' family and even visited his last known address.
Police say he shot one of their officers. Police did not say whether Hagan shot himself or was shot by officers. The coroner's report said he had multiple gunshot wounds. Police also did not say who was at the Extended Stay America while the incident was ongoing.
This is the second reported incident of a Lexington police officer shooting someone in two weeks. On September 1, police shot a man who allegedly pointed a gun at them on Jennifer Road. That man survived.
In March, police said officers shot and killed an armed man who was allegedly suicidal and shot at them.
In February, an officer was shot in the vest and then returned fire at a juvenile, but nobody was struck.
There were non-fatal Lexington police shootings in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to police records obtained by LEX 18.
So what happens next in this most recent case?
Kentucky State Police's Critical Incident Response Team will investigate.
Lexington police's Public Integrity Unit will also do an internal review of the incident.
