Family of Kentucky man killed by police in 2024 files excessive force lawsuit

Austin R. Ramsey, Lexington Herald-Leader on Mar 12, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The family of a Knott County man who was killed by law enforcement in September 2024 is suing the two officers involved for unreasonable seizure and excessive force.

Travis Pratt was 25 when he was shot by Kentucky State Police Trooper Bruce Kelley and Knott County Sheriff’s Deputy Wesley Bolen on Sept. 9, 2024, in Littcarr. The two officers were responding to a call of a man attempting to enter a house armed with a knife.

An attorney for Pratt’s family says he wasn’t carrying any weapons, but the caller mistakenly reported he was the suspect wanted for a deadly shooting on I-75 in Laurel County just one day earlier. The body of the man accused of that shooting was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound more than a week later in rural wooded area north of London.

Pratt, attorneys for the family say, encountered police inside the bathroom of a residence displaying clear signs of mental impairment. The officers ignored calls over their radios from another trooper familiar with him who wanted to be patched through to talk to Pratt and calm him down, the lawsuit alleges.

Kelley escalated the situation, the lawsuit claims, by entering the bathroom because he believed Pratt may have been trying to escape through a window, despite the fact the bathroom had no exterior window. Kelley and Bolen fired their stun guns at Pratt, who fell to the ground. Pratt then picked up a broken shower head from items laying on the floor, and the two officers shot more than a dozen times.

There was no indication Pratt was about to harm the officers, and the confrontation could have been resolved through deescalation, according to the lawsuit. Both officers had received crisis intervention training for individuals suffering mental health crises, but allegedly failed to follow those protocols with Pratt.

“They had him contained in the bathroom, and there was no reason they had to act quickly,” said David Barber, an attorney with Thomas Law Offices, which is representing Pratt’s family. “The safest thing you can do as an officer in that situation, when you’ve got time and containment on your side, is use it to your advantage.”

Both officers were placed on administrative leave, but no charges were filed. Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson confirmed Wednesday that Bolen is still employed as a deputy with the force. He said his office has not been served with a lawsuit and declined to comment further.

KSP did not immediately respond to a Herald-Leader request for comment.

Both officers are being sued in their individual capacity, according to the lawsuit. Pratt’s family is seeking damages from the two for total destruction of the power to earn money, conscious pain and suffering, funeral expenses and attorneys fees, plus punitive damages.