Louisville's Week in Emergency Calls: Dec 28, 2025-Jan 3, 2026

Editor’s note:

Check out our post about this synthesis for where the data comes from and how we analyze it.

— Jay

Derby City Watch logged seven days of scanner traffic between Christmas and New Year's. The pattern that emerged wasn't about celebration - it was about what happens when the calendar flips and violence escalates.

Christmas week had structure fires and steady medical calls. New Year's week brought shootings with critical injuries, major house fires, and an 8-year-old suspected of alcohol poisoning.

Gun violence intensified as the week progressed. Not random gunfire - shootings with victims, critical injuries, extended scene processing.

December 28: Shooting on Dixie Hwy near Wilton and Ormsby Streets at 9:35 a.m. Male victim on ground with gunshot wounds. Shot spotter confirmed multiple rounds. Victim transported, scene preserved for investigation.

December 29: Shooting on Carlisle Ave at 11:58 p.m. Male found with gunshot wound to head, unresponsive. EMS transported to hospital, stabilized after critical condition. Witnesses reported multiple gunshots earlier. No suspects located initially. Residents woke to increased patrols after shooting raised neighborhood safety concerns.

January 1: Shooting at Pomeroy Ct in evening. Officers found victim with gunshot wound, detained suspect nearby. Firearm and shell casings recovered. Multiple units secured scene for evidence collection.

January 1: Critical shooting at McDonald's on E Market St just before noon. Female victim, approximately 25 years old, shot in the head. Left scene in vehicle, possibly white Chevy Cruze. Critically injured. Investigation ongoing for suspect and motive.

January 2: Woman found unconscious with gunshot wound on Greenwood Ave. Separate incident: victim sustained gunshot to abdomen during robbery on Denmark St. Shot spotters detected multiple rounds near W Market St and 13th Street. Suspects described as older males, some shirtless, fled scenes. Area searches conducted, no immediate arrests.

The mechanism: New Year's gatherings, alcohol consumption, unresolved conflicts, easy firearm access. Disputes that might de-escalate in other contexts become shootings. Violence triggers multi-unit responses - police securing scenes, EMS transporting critical patients, extended investigations locking down neighborhoods.

The pattern showing up: Christmas week had one fatal shooting. New Year's week had multiple critical shootings across different locations, different times, different circumstances. Gun violence doesn't pause for holidays - it adapts to them.

Medical calls maintained constant pressure across seven days. Cardiac crises, strokes, overdoses, cold exposure - same volume, different addresses.

December 28: 52-year-old male on Rowan St at 12:26 a.m. with severe breathing difficulty, chest pressure, swollen legs. Cardiac issue requiring multiple units for stabilization and transport.

December 30: 49-year-old man on E Muhammad Ali Blvd at 12:36 a.m. experiencing stroke symptoms—loss of feeling on one side, coldness, altered mental state. EMS responded, stabilized, transported for urgent care.

December 30: 66-year-old man near E Esplanade Ave with shortness of breath and difficulty speaking. Multiple units staged for response. Woman on Chambers Way with chest pain, vomiting, shortness of breath transported for care.

December 31: Elderly woman at Wetherby Ave and Shelbyville Rd at 4:13 p.m. found unresponsive with stroke symptoms. Multiple fire and medical units arrived, coordinated urgent care, transported to hospital.

January 1: Elderly man found unconscious, struggling to breathe, transported for urgent care. Woman with congestive heart failure history experiencing severe chest pain and difficulty breathing stabilized on scene, transported for treatment.

January 3: 87-year-old man at Southwestern Pky at 12:47 a.m. with severe respiratory distress, wheezing, difficulty breathing. EMS staged for advanced intervention. Separate call: 63-year-old man at High Point Cir at 12:50 a.m. with heart failure history, found unresponsive with chest pain, swollen feet, signs of blood clot. EMS prepared for potential advanced procedures.

The mechanism: Louisville's aging population creates baseline cardiac and stroke load. Cold weather stresses cardiovascular systems. Every critical call requires fire and EMS staging. Every elderly patient with chest pain gets full response protocol. The system handles it—but when multiple cardiac calls hit simultaneously, response times stretch and margins thin.

Fire calls escalated from contained incidents to major structure fires.

December 29: Large brush fire near Northwestern Pkwy and 29th Street at 6:52 a.m. threatened trees and downed power lines. Fire units contained and extinguished quickly, preventing spread to structures.

December 31: Dumpster fire at South 3rd Street at 5:36 p.m. Fire confined to container, no threat to nearby structures. Typical pattern - discarded smoking materials or debris.

January 1: Major house fire at Bashford Manor Ln and Mayo Dr in late morning. Heavy flames visible in garage and attic. Immediate evacuation of structure. Crews worked to contain blaze, preventing spread to nearby properties. Simultaneously, detached garage fire at 2000 block of Bashford Manor Ln confirmed as working fire, all occupants evacuated safely. Fire suppression involved establishing water supplies, coordinating with police for traffic control.

January 2: House fire on Willowview Blvd with heavy smoke. Quick containment prevented further damage. Woods fire behind Wynbrooke Cir contained after heavy flames reported. Dumpster fire near Taylorsville Rd extinguished before threatening structures.

January 3: Vehicle fire at Lexington Rd and Baxter Ave at 12:43 a.m. Multiple units responded to smoke from parked black van in no-parking zone. Smoke from trunk area. Fire contained, scene secured, no injuries.

The trade-off: New Year's cooking, heating systems running continuously during cold snap, fireworks triggering alarms. Fire units rotated between false alarms at high-rises (cooking-related) and actual structure fires requiring full response. When major fires hit - Bashford Manor Ln house fire with garage and attic involvement - resources concentrate there while smaller incidents queue.

Freezing temperatures added another emergency category: hypothermia and exposure.

December 30: Male in wheelchair at 1200 block of Story Ave at 1:22 a.m. reported in distress from cold exposure, possibly suffering frostbite or hypothermia. EMS responded, secured scene after evaluation. Community reporting helped ensure individual received care during cold night.

The mechanism: Louisville's vulnerable populations - homeless individuals, elderly residents, people with mobility limitations - face life-threatening exposure when temperatures drop. EMS responds to cold exposure cases requiring warming, medical assessment, transport. These calls add to baseline medical load during holiday week when shelter capacity strains and family support networks thin.

December 30: 8-year-old boy at 6900 block of Arbor Creek Dr at 12:19 a.m. found possibly intoxicated with alcohol. Multiple fire units arrived to support EMS caring for child with suspected severe intoxication.

This incident stands out because it's rare in scanner traffic - child endangerment requiring multi-unit emergency response for alcohol poisoning. Adult overdoses appear weekly. Child alcohol poisoning triggers different protocols, different staging, different urgency.

The context: New Year's Eve gatherings, unsecured alcohol, inadequate supervision. The result: 8-year-old requiring emergency medical care for severe intoxication while fire units staged and EMS worked stabilization.

Domestic incidents, pursuits, and reckless driving maintained steady pace.

December 28: High-speed vehicle pursuit at Dixie Hwy near Oak at 12:35 a.m. Black Chevy Impala, suspected stolen, located at liquor store. During stop, suspect fired shot into ground, injured himself. Suspect detained, vehicle recovered. Significant police response including staging for scene safety.

December 30: Domestic dispute at 1800 block of Frankfort Ave at 1:50 a.m. Fight involving male and female, male possibly armed or threatening. Scene quickly secured, disturbance resolved without injuries.

December 31: Domestic incident at J.C.C. Road at 5:35 p.m. Woman at retirement center found injured following incident involving possible strangulation. Removed from vehicle with dog present. Scene secured after confirming dog posed no threat.

January 2: High-speed chase involving reckless driving ended with driver wrecking at 12th and Broadway. Officers observed vehicle running red lights, traveling wrong way, nearly hitting police car before crash. Driver detained without further incident, preventing potential injuries.

January 2: Domestic disturbances included brother threatening to shoot sibling, male refusing to leave after fight. Both situations stabilized without injuries, individuals detained for investigation.

The pattern: Domestic violence doesn't decrease during holidays - it concentrates. Stolen vehicle pursuits continue despite increased police presence. Reckless driving escalates when impaired drivers hit roads during New Year's celebrations. Each incident locks down units, requires staging, extends response times for other calls.

January 1 showed what simultaneous major incidents look like.

Late morning: Major house fire at Bashford Manor Ln requiring multiple units, water supply coordination, traffic control.

Same morning: Multi-vehicle rollover with entrapment at Algonquin Pkwy and Peach St near 2600 block. Vehicle overturned, occupant trapped, conscious and breathing. Multiple units worked to extricate and treat injured. Two adult males transported to hospital. Scene secured, traffic diverted.

Just before noon: Critical shooting at McDonald's on E Market St. Female victim shot in head, left scene in vehicle, critically injured. Scene secured, investigation launched.

The mechanism: When major fire, serious traffic accident with entrapment, and critical shooting happen within hours, Louisville's emergency system stretches. Fire units concentrate at structure fire. EMS and police coordinate vehicle extrication while separate teams handle shooting victim transport and scene processing. Other calls—medical emergencies, false alarms, domestic disturbances—queue until units clear.

The system handled it. But margins disappeared.

Derby City Watch transcribes scanner traffic in real time. It's not official LMPD reporting—it's community-sourced observation.

Limitations:

What it does show:

This isn't crime statistics. It's emergency system load during New Year's week.

Louisville's 911 system absorbed New Year's week without collapse. Medical baseline continued - cardiac calls, strokes, overdoses maintained steady volume. Gun violence escalated - multiple critical shootings across different neighborhoods. Major structure fires required full resource deployment. Cold weather added hypothermia and exposure calls.

The calls kept coming: shooting on Carlisle Ave with head wound, house fire at Bashford Manor Ln with garage and attic flames, 8-year-old with suspected alcohol poisoning, critical shooting at McDonald's, vehicle rollover with entrapment, elderly cardiac patients across multiple locations.

Fire units rotated between structure fires and false alarms. EMS units shuttled between hospitals and scenes - cardiac cases, stroke patients, gunshot victims, overdoses, cold exposure. Police units bounced between shootings, domestic disturbances, stolen vehicle pursuits, reckless driving interventions.

The system works - until it doesn't. When major house fire, vehicle entrapment, and critical shooting hit within hours (January 1), response times stretch. When multiple shootings spread across different neighborhoods (January 2), scene processing locks down units and other calls wait.

New Year's week revealed the constraint: Emergency infrastructure operates at constant medical baseline, absorbs holiday-specific violence escalation, handles cold weather exposure layer, responds to major fires and serious accidents - all simultaneously. The system didn't break. But when you stack critical shooting, structure fire, and vehicle extrication in the same morning, you see where capacity ends.

One pattern across Derby City Watch posts: "Look out for one another."

That's the reminder at the end of every digest. Because when 911 response times depend on call volume and unit availability, and New Year's week brings multiple critical shootings plus major fires plus cold exposure calls plus the baseline medical load, community awareness becomes infrastructure.

Especially during holiday transitions, when emergency responders work while Louisville celebrates - and the calls keep escalating.

Data source: Derby City Watch daily digests, Dec 28-Jan 3, 2026. Scanner transcription, community-sourced. Not official police reporting.

Disclaimer: Information processed automatically. May contain errors or omissions. Refer to relevant agencies for more specific information on anything reported above.

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