Doug Harless killed in London police search warrant shooting: A look at the timeline, investigation

Yahoo

07-02-2025

LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Just days before Christmas 2024, 63-year-old Douglas 'Doug' Harless was shot and killed by a London officer during what state police said was a search warrant following an investigation.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) said the officer-involved shooting took place at 511 Vanzant Road despite obtained dispatch audio noting 489 Vanzant Road as the warrant's target.
Since that night, questions linger in the Laurel County community as the investigation unfolds.
Here's a timeline of what we know so far.
Around 10 p.m. on Dec. 22, court documents noted that over $1,000 worth of items were reported stolen from a home in London. Security cameras reportedly captured an older model white Chevrolet Blazer in the driveway of the Taylor Drive residence before it drove through the yard and into the parking lot of a nearby business.
According to the Property Valuation Administration, the Taylor Drive home belongs to Laurel County judge-executive David Westerfield.
An arrest citation noted that the homeowners said 49-year-old Hobert Buttery, a former employee, recently asked for a job back after being arrested but was turned down. Buttery allegedly 'wasn't happy with that decision.'
The homeowners told police that 'only someone that knew the items were there would have taken them because the house was vacant,' court records shared.
Officers found Buttery the following day in Manchester working on the Blazer, per arrest documents.
Police said Buttery admitted to taking a heater and a Stihl weedeater from the backyard. He reportedly told officers that the heater was at DJ Pawn Shop in Manchester, and the weedeater was taken to a home in Lily.
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Buttery was arrested around 7:30 p.m. and charged with theft by unlawful taking.
Shortly before midnight, London police officers responded to Vanzant Road in Lily to serve a search warrant in a follow-up to an investigation, according to a Dec. 24 news release from KSP. LPD said the investigation started in London city limits.
Dispatch audio named 489 Vanzant Road as the target for the warrant. However, KSP said the officer-involved shooting happened at 511 Vanzant Road.
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The London Police Department (LPD) reported in a Dec. 26 news release that a person at the home, later identified as 63-year-old Douglas Harless, 'produced a firearm and pointed it at officers.' KSP said an officer shot Harless, and after life-saving attempts, he was pronounced dead by the coroner's office.
KSP said it's investigating the shooting, and LPD noted that the officer was placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol.
A Hart Funeral Home obituary for Harless was posted around 7 p.m. on Dec. 27.
'A hardworking man, Doug was an employee of Winterwood, Inc. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. Other interests included NASCAR racing and listening to music,' it read. 'Doug was dearly loved by his family and friends and will be deeply missed.'
The full memorial can be found below:
Douglas Marshall Harless, 63, of Lily, Kentucky, passed away Monday, December 23, 2024. Born April 10, 1961, he was the son of the late James Harless and Mavis Gunn.
In addition to his father and mother, Doug was preceded in death by a special friend, Shannon Smith, and his sister, Gail Fritz.
He leaves behind his daughter, Nicki Lawson and husband Tim; grandson, Kobe Lawson; bonus daughter, Mona Alsip, and bonus grandson, Tyler; brother, Mark Harless and wife Sherry; nephew, Travis Harless; sister, Peggy Turner; sister, Margaret Barnes; brother, Cody Wilburn; sister, Angie Martin and husband Jason; and special work friend, Justin Medlin. Survivors also include many nieces, nephews, and friends to mourn his passing.
A hardworking man, Doug was an employee of Winterwood, Inc. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. Other interests included NASCAR racing and listening to music.
Doug was dearly loved by his family and friends and will be deeply missed.
The family will receive friends from 5–8 p.m. Monday, December 30, 2024, at Hart Funeral Home, located at 1011 Master Street, Corbin, Kentucky 40701.
Hart Funeral Home, Inc.
Dispatch audio indicated a discrepancy in the address where officers were serving a warrant when an officer opened fire and killed Harless.
Harless lived at 511 Vanzant Road in Lily, but according to the audio, officers were intending to serve the warrant at 489 Vanzant Road. The address was mentioned at least five times in the dispatch call.
'This is London PD 489 Vanzant Road. 489 Vanzant Road—units on scene to serve a search warrant call on the radio for assistance shots fired, 489 Vanzant Road,' LPD officers said in the audio.
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Questions surround the officer-involved shooting, with many wondering if the police were at the wrong house when the incident occurred.
FOX 56 obtained footage of the shooting from neighbor Tina Asher's security camera, which shows London police arriving at 11:50 p.m. on Dec. 23 to Harless' home.
In the video, officers can be heard calling for someone to come outside. Minutes later, five shots were fired. Police then reported the shooting to dispatch.
'Standby in the area, shots fired,' a dispatch recording stated. 'Responded to 489 Vanzant Road. Staging the area. Law enforcement on scene. Shots fired. Search warrant.'
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FOX 56 News is working to obtain a copy of the search warrant to determine if officers went to the wrong house, but we have not heard back.
Buttery appeared in Laurel County District Court on Jan. 2 for a preliminary hearing in connection with the items stolen from a London residence owned by Westerfield.
Several other items were reportedly stolen, but court documents noted that Buttery only admitted to stealing the heater and weed eater.
FOX 56 spoke with Westerfield, who said the items didn't belong to him but that he allowed someone else to store them there.
'We've had a person to lose their life, you know, over this,' Westerfield said. 'I'd just like to offer my condolences to the family for the loss of Mr. Harless. My heart goes out to them.'
Mayor Randall Weddle stated that the department hasn't utilized body cameras since 2023 due to the cost of maintaining them. Meaning the only footage captured the night of Harless' death was from a neighbor's home.
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'My office is fully committed to the transparency regarding the recent events,' Weddle said at the start of the meeting. 'As soon as this matter arose, the London City Police Department referred the investigation to the Kentucky State Police. In parallel, my office has initiated an administrative investigation. However, we cannot reach a conclusion until the Kentucky State Police have completed their inquiry. My heart goes out to all those that are involved in this case. My prayers have been with everyone during this time. Should any wrongdoing be identified? My office will take the appropriate actions in accordance with the findings.'
But the public wasn't satisfied, and they proceeded to press for answers for the next hour. Many asked questions surrounding the search warrant executed the night of Harless' death, its timing, and who approved it.
Tensions were also high among the council, some claiming they were ill-informed about the situation at hand.
'All I can say is we found out by either Facebook or the news, and we should have found out differently than that,' Justin Young, city council member, said.
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Mayor Weddle said that he acted within the 'legal ramifications' to avoid creating a quorum.
'I keep it to a three-person limit,' Weddle said.
'Well, that doesn't sound good, coming from the mayor,' Young responded.
Stacy Benge, a city council member, said that he even filed an open records request on the case.
'I did an open records request, and I didn't get anything, and I didn't expect to get anything, you know, because it's been sent to the KSP, and I understood that. But I had to ask, you know, officially, and they responded as they should,' Benge said. 'But I will ask that; I think it's our right to do so. That we would get a written statement from the chief of police and assistant chief of police with something regarding this.'
Benge said that he's placed calls to the London police chief, but his calls have gone unanswered.
'It's an open investigation, and they can't say anything,' Weddle defended.
'They can say, 'I can't tell you nothing.' That's better than nothing,' Benge said.
Councilmembers said they've received threatening emails and name-calling from people, even out of state, as the case grasped public attention.
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FOX 56 has contacted LPD and Mayor Weddle for comment following the meeting. Only the mayor sent a statement:
I'm aware that the recording of Monday's council meeting has garnered significant attention, and I recognize that discussions became heated at times.
As an American, I value and uphold our First Amendment rights, which allow us to express ourselves to our elected officials. However, after reviewing the video, it should be clear that much of this conversation was directed at me personally rather than the issue at hand.
Some individuals are using this situation for political gain, which is unfortunate and detracts from the real matter at stake. At this time, we are awaiting the conclusion of the investigation by the Kentucky State Police. Our thoughts and prayers remain with everyone involved in this situation, and I urge everyone to remain focused on facts and fairness as we move forward.
Mayor Randall Weddle
Click here to listen to the entirety of the meeting.
The Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) is an elected official responsible for accessing property within the county. The property database is also accessible to the public.
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However, the home marked 511, where Harless lived, is listed as 489 Vanzant Rd. in the PVA database.
FOX 56 spoke with Mayor Randall Weddle, shedding light on how the dispatch system works and how officers showed up at Harless' home in December.
According to Mayor Weddle, the 911 dispatch system correlates with the addresses listed in the PVA database. So when the officers were routed to serve the search warrant, dispatch would have led them to the parcel addressed at 489 Vanzant Rd.
It's unclear why the numbers on Harless' home don't match the address in the PVA database. Laurel County Property Value Administrator Don McFadden told FOX 56 that he updates the database daily, and the 911 dispatch system provides the addresses listed.
McFadden told FOX 56 that he believes Google Maps has since updated and listed what was once 489 Vanzant Rd. as 511 Vanzant Rd. over the weekend.
'My best guess is the 489 Vanzant Road address was issued decades ago by the Cumberland Vally ADD and that address is .489 miles from the beginning of Vanzant Road, which makes the address correct,' McFadden said, referencing the home marked as 511.
But why the home is marked as 511 is still a mystery.
'It would not surprise me if we find out that this mobile home was actually in a different location with 511 attached to the structure. The owner of the property may have simply moved the mobile home up front and never felt the need to change the address,' he added. 'We have no county zoning in Laurel, so yeah, weird stuff happens.'
FOX 56 obtained a March 2023 directive signed by then Chief Chuck Johnson, discontinuing the use of body cameras for the department.
'Effective immediately, the London Police Department is temporarily suspending the use of body-worn cameras,' it reads.
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The department has not utilized body-worn cameras since then. The directive cited that the cameras were four to six years old, broken, and no longer serviceable.
FOX 56 spoke with Mayor Randall Weddle three weeks after the shooting. He said that the city has initiated plans to bring back body cameras for the department.
'The body cams; we had a little over 27 officers that had it out of 30, not every officer had it,' said Mayor Weddle. 'The storage that they use to store this and do redactions was outdated, and then the company wound up closing down.'
He said the aging equipment, storage, and cost were why the department stopped using them. But Wedell said since he's taken office, it's been an ongoing process to get them back.
'I have been working with the council now for over a year on getting this project done. Back in prior council meetings, you'll see there was a subcommittee created for this. So inside of that package, we were going to get the new body cameras,' said Weddle.
He said due to the shooting death of Harless, the project has been expedited.
'We were never against it, and it's not that we didn't want our police not having it, and the police department doesn't care to have it. These guys, I think, feel more protected by having it themselves. But it was just that the overall funding was an issue, especially when we have to update everything within that department,' Weddle said. 'But with recent events, we must give transparency to the public, and that department is held accountable. I felt like this was one way.'
The body camera system is a 5-year, $500,000 contract. They're using the department's forfeiture funds, which are pools of money from assets sized due to criminal involvement.
Wedell said he understands everyone's frustrations but is asking for patience as the Kentucky State Police investigation remains ongoing.
'We're frustrated sometimes that we can't say anything because we want to. This is an open investigation. I ask for the community to have patience as soon as this investigation is done; if anything wrong is found, there will be accountability,' added Wedell.
He said he's confident in KSP's abilities, and depending on the findings of the investigation, changes will be made.
'When this is over, something I told the PD, for full transparency, I want to step-by-step play laid out to the community of what transpired from the beginning to the end,' said Wedell. 'Every detail, every phone call that was made because we are doing an administrative investigation as well, and if there are things that we need to do better, let's improve that. Let's ensure that if there is something we need to fix, it gets fixed. But to identify those things, I need to wait on KSP, but we will hold people accountable.'
On Jan. 17, Buttery appeared in a Laurel County courtroom to enter his plea.
According to court records, he pleaded not guilty to theft by unlawful taking and first-degree persistent felony offender.
His next court date is set for 9 a.m. on Feb. 19 for a pretrial conference.
Changes are to come to the London City Council following a jam-packed day of meetings.
Two special called meetings and one ethics board meeting were held at the London Community Center, seeing a councilman resign, a private attorney hired for the city council, and three complaints were discussed behind closed doors.
In the day's first meeting, former Councilman Kip Jervis resigned.
'My family and I have made the difficult decision to try and lay some things aside that are causing me stress,' he said.
Jervis has served on the council since 2020, noting that after consulting with doctors, he decided to do what was best for his health.
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'It comes to the point in time when one must be particular about what occupies one's headspace. So now I'm going to go help some folks make some music; that's what I like to do. I figure that might add a few years instead of subtraction,' said Jervis.
Shortly after, the council met again, deciding to hire a private attorney, separate from the city attorney—a move that the mayor questioned.
Conrad Cessna, the founding partner of the Cessna & George Law Firm, is a criminal defense attorney who advises the school board. He affirmed that an ethics liaison advised him that taking the position would not be a conflict of interest.
'The city would like to put in the record, with Conrad having a large criminal law practice here in the city, would there be any conflicts between him and the city police, considering that he would be representing counsel? And maybe defendants on the city police?' said London Mayor Randall Weddle.
Ultimately, Cessna was hired to represent the council.
Lastly, the Ethics Board met in closed session for the first time in nine months to discuss three complaints of an undisclosed nature. Jane Winkler Dyche, Board Chair, only told FOX 56 that all three complaints came within the last month.
Ben Crump—who is known for representing the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor—has taken on the Douglas Harless case, according to Harless' family.
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Since his death, community members have gathered to honor Harless' life while calling for justice and answers from officials through the 'Justice for Doug' movement.
'I filed an open records request. Basically, what I wanted to learn in that open records request is who leaked the 911 audio on the eighth to YouTube,' Elijah Jarvis told FOX 56.
The leaked audio is a 911 call between Laurel County Judge Executive David Westerfield and London Police Officer Jared Hale, discussing the weed eater that was stolen from Westerfield's property.
The initial YouTube listing has since been taken down. When FOX 56 filed an open records request for the audio, the request was denied.
'Me making the open records request is really just to shine a light on the corruption in London. You know, this city is scared. This town is scared,' Jarvis said.
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But the records he received weren't what left Jarvis in shock. It's what he saw when he went to sign for the package at a FedEx shipping center in London.
'[I] met with the receptionist, handed her the note, and said, 'I'm here to get my package.' She says, 'OK, I'm going to go to the back to get it.' Walks in the back; about five minutes later, she comes back. She says, 'Sir, I'm sorry this has never happened before, but actually them two guys in the corner over there have your package.' So I look to my left and take a picture.'
Jarvis told FOX 56 that the men pictured are Director Larry Walls and Assistant Director Tyler Pearce from the London-Laurel County 911 Communications Center. He said they opened the package, spread it across the table, and began marking up the documents.
'He said we redacted and removed information that wasn't pertinent to the open records request, and I asked him why, and he said the City of London sent them to do it,' Jarvis said.
Mayor Weddle denied the claim, telling FOX 56 the city had nothing to do with it.
A written statement signed by Walls and Pearce said FedEx returned the package at their request after realizing the documents contained phone numbers and addresses of private citizens.
'This is some of the information that I believe that they redacted with a Sharpie. They didn't do too good a job at doing it either,' Jarvis said, holding up one of the redacted documents revealing the information that could still be seen.
Jarvis shared the images he took on Facebook, and many questioned whether what occurred was legal.
'I don't want to comment on the specific allegations in this matter, but generally speaking, if a member of the public steals, conceals, damages, or destroys any mail matter of another that is not addressed to them, that is a Class D felony under KRS 514.140. In Kentucky, Class D felonies are punishable by 1-5 years in prison and a fine ranging from $1,000.00 to $10,000.00,' Michael Durborow, attorney at Suhre & Associates, LLC., said.
FOX 56 spoke with an attorney who helped draft the Kentucky Open Records Act and has 40 years of experience in media law and First Amendment cases. He affirmed that any redactions to the documents should've been made before they were sealed and sent.
'This is unusual. Once it's out of their control, they really don't have a right,' Jon Fleischaker said. 'I don't think they have a right to go back to FedEx and say, 'Give us the package back.''
Fleischaker affirmed that once the documents leave the possession of the entity from which they were requested, what they contain becomes public record.
'There's supposed to be a process where they redact, and then they give you an explanation as to each item that was redacted, and from what you're telling me, they didn't do that, at least originally,' he said. 'I think it raises questions as to whether this second redaction is legitimate.'
So even with the redacted information, did it answer Jarvis's question of who leaked the 911 audio?
'It told me that on the eighth there were four people that were possibly leaking that video of the audio of the 911 call, and those four people were the police chief, the assistant police chief, City Attorney Larry Bryson, and Mayor Randall Weddle,' Jarvis said.
Jarvis had planned to present the incident to the council at its next meeting but was asked not to do so by his attorney.
'It could be everything from just an administrative screwup to something much more meaningful. But I think it is worth the question, and then it raises the question about the integrity of the whole operation,' Fleischaker said.
'Give me two more minutes, give me two more minutes,' shouted James Jones at the podium.
He's a Laurel County resident who attended the Feb. 3 City Council meeting. Following his address to the council, he played a recorded phone call between him and Councilmember Anthony Ortega.
This call led up to the meeting, and Ortega allegedly told him what Jones should say when he took the stand.
'Before I do this, I want everyone here to know my actions speak for myself; I stand here for me. Not my mom, my dad, my children,' said Jones.
Part of the phone call detailed how he should make his approach.
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''I do appreciate the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I feel honored, you know, just open up with something like that, which sets the stage for you being respectful. Then you are going to say, 'Mayor, since you came to town, when you were campaigning for mayor, you were promising all these things, transparency, open door policy, all these jobs,'' Ortega could allegedly be heard saying.
This triggered an uproar from both the audience and the council, with some council members getting up from their seats, packing their things, sitting in the audience, and calling for the meeting to be adjourned.
It was clear Jones supported the mayor.
'I'm done; I'm done here tonight,' yelled Council Member Kelly Greene.
This frustration has been brewing in the city for more than a month after Harless' death.
Mayor Randall Weddle denied the motion to end the meeting, sharing some words with the council.
'Council in the first meeting in January. I sat silently and let you guys attack me and your crew. Now, you brought a guy in here tonight to try to attack me personally,' said Weddle.
Jones was escorted from the meeting along with others in the audience, including Elijah Jarvis, who told us last week his mail regarding an open records request was intercepted at the FedEx office by two men from the 911 center.
'I do feel like I was targeted. I said nothing that should have warranted being removed. That guy threatened me in front of everyone,' said Jarvis.
The council denied our request for a statement following the meeting.
Allie Root, Camille Hantla, Daegiona Wilson, Dustin Massengill, Jace O'Barto, and Matthew Duckworth contributed to this story.
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 56 News for future updates.
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