Photographer Tyler Gerth killed while covering a protest

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://www.wlky.com/article/offici...-double-shooting-at-jefferson-square/32991497

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Night after night, Tyler Gerth snapped photos of the Louisville protests.

The mostly black-and-white frames shared to Instagram showed the heartbreak, occasional triumph and tirelessness that have defined the month-long demonstrations: the marching, the singing, the hugging. The chanting and the silence.

Gerth, 27, was fatally shot Saturday night at a protest in Jefferson Square Park, the unintended victim of a man who got in a dispute at the protest site and came back with a gun, protesters at the scene said.

Steven Lopez, 23, is facing charges of murder and first-degree wanton endangerment, Louisville Metro Police officials said Sunday after releasing his arrest citation.

Gerth had become a vocal supporter of ongoing protests against racism and police brutality and, his family said, a strong supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.

His godfather is Joe Gerth, a Courier Journal columnist. And Tyler Gerth also was a godfather to the Louisville columnist's daughter.

The family said in a statement that they are "devastated that his life was taken was from us far too soon."

Gerth was covering the Louisville protests at the time of his death.