A Kentucky deputy had to shoot an unarmed suspect on Sunday after a long chase culminated with the perpetrator trying to hit a Bardstown officer with a car.
John Kennedy Fenwick, 25, is expected to survive the gunshot wounds according to The Daily Caller, and, as Nelson County Sheriff Ed Mattingly pointed out during a Monday press conference, also white.
Mattingly, after being asked if he is afraid of the community's response to what happened, said he was "glad" that Fenwick is white.
"We are glad that he is white, and we shouldn't have to be worried about that," Mattingly said Monday. "And we do not want any backlash or violence in this community because people have been misinformed. I think that the public needs to know how the criminal justice system works and... what officers are able to do."
He then clarified that people need to stay correctly informed, calling out the media for their coverage of "previous cases," not naming any.
"Well, we must take notice of previous cases...and how the media has handled those situations," Mattingly said. "We want the public to be informed, and accurately informed."
The Bardstown community was definitely listening, as Mattingly told The Huffington Post on Wednesday that people have reached out to him to complain about his controversial comments. The sheriff said he was surprised by the negative reactions and did not mean to offend anyone.
"I don't want what has happened in these other communities to happen here. I don't have a magic eight ball to predict the future, I just don't want that to happen," he said. "Some people took that comment as being racist, and I had no intention of that coming across that way and I'm sorry if that comment bothered some people."
Check out a video of the press conference, where Mattingly made the initial remarks, below.
