License plate reading cameras did not capture the suspected vehicle involved in a Lexington mass shooting , according to the building owner where the shooting occurred.
Chad Walker, a city council candidate and owner of Walker Properties, which owns the building at 701 National Ave., held a news conference Thursday to provide updates on the investigation and give nearby business owners a chance to speak. Walker said there are a couple of Flock cameras in the neighborhood but none captured the suspected vehicle.
The closest Flock camera to the scene of the shooting is near Winchester Road and Walton Avenue , according to the Lexington Police Department.
“This was a blind spot, so we will be fixing that,” Walker said.
There are plans to add more license plate readers along with security cameras in the neighborhood, Walker said. Surveillance cameras in the area have aided police’s investigation into the shooting.
“The intent will be, and already is to a degree, that if a vehicle enters a neighborhood, from the time they enter the neighborhood to the time they leave, we can watch them,” Walker said.
Walker also provided a timeline of the response time after the shooting occurred. He said many first responders were on the scene within four minutes of the shooting and had the scene secured another two minutes later.
The timeline Walker provided was:
- 12:17:28: Shooting occurs
- 12:20:52: First Lexington police officer arrives on scene
- 12:21:00: More police officers arrive on scene
- 12:26:19: Scene was secured
‘This is still a good neighborhood.’
Several business owners in the neighborhood spoke at the press conference about their reaction to the shooting. Lauren Higdon, the owner and co-founder of Centered Holistic Health , has been in the neighborhood for 12 years and said it’s a wonderful place to live and work.
Higdon argued the shooting is not a reflection of the community but more of a reflection of an epidemic of gun violence.
“I don’t feel like it’s isolated. It’s not isolated in our community, in our town, in our state, in our world,” Higdon said. “Gun violence is happening every single day. It’s happened in my family and now in my neighborhood.”
The shooting was Lexington’s ninth homicide this year. As of Aug. 9 last year, the city had reported 13 homicides, according to police.
In all of 2023, Lexington reported 24 homicides , fewer than the record-breaking year of 2022, when 44 killings took place. The last time Lexington reported 24 or fewer homicides in a year was in 2018, according to Lexington police data, which dates back to 2008.
Jeff Newman, owner of Blue Door Smokehouse , described the area as the best neighborhood in Lexington. Blue Door Smokehouse, along with every other business in the neighborhood, decided to stay open Friday to help the community.
“We all felt very safe and we felt like it was our duty to the people that do rely on this neighborhood for their entertainment, their shopping, different services,” Newman said.
Derek DeFranco, co-owner of Mirror Twin Brewing , hopes people continue to visit the neighborhood
“This is still a good neighborhood,” DeFranco said. “I’ve been here for eight years and this is the first time we’ve ever seen anything like this happen.”
Building owners: Mass shooting and El Cid eviction unrelated
El Cid Restaurant was evicted from the building where the mass shooting occurred just four days later. But Walker said Thursday the restaurant’s eviction was not related to the shooting, and he doesn’t blame the restaurant’s owner, Jesus de la Fuente, for the incident.
Walker had been trying to evict the restaurant from the building for months. In May, a Fayette District Court judge allowed Walker to reclaim the building; El Cid’s proprietors, Silvia LLC, appealed, but the appeal was dismissed. Walker had given de la Fuente until Monday to vacate.
On Tuesday, the building was repossessed by Walker Properties.
“Unfortunately that’s just the way the courts work sometimes,” Walker said. “Make no mistake, we didn’t evict them because of this event. It just happened to coincide.”
El Cid opened under a different owner in 2021; de la Fuente bought it in 2023. Walker said de la Fuente did not pay rent, which led to the eviction.
Additionally, unbeknownst to Walker, de la Fuente had been operating the place as a club, rather than a restaurant, for several weeks.
“I think in this situation, it just wasn’t a good fit,” Walker said. “That, coupled with lack of communications and falling behind in rent, it was just writing on the wall that this was going to happen.”
Renovations at the building are already underway in anticipation of a new tenant. As Walker searches for a new occupier of the building, he’s holding the victims from the shooting at the forefront of his mind.
“We’ll never forget what happened here,” Walker said. “The victims remain in our hearts, as they and all of Lexington search for answers.”
Lexington police is continuing to investigate the shooting, and the FBI is assisting.
Police ask anyone with information to call (859) 258-3600. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers by calling 859-253-2020 or online at www.bluegrasscrimestoppers.com , or through the P3 Tips app available at www.p3tips.com .
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