Eleven days after gunfire tore through a narrow Russell neighborhood alley and left four people injured, Louisville police have made an arrest. James A. Ditto Jr., 29, was taken into custody on the morning of Tuesday, September 22, in connection with the September 11 shooting that wounded a teenager and three adults in the 1000 block of Esquire Alley.
According to WLKY, Ditto has been charged with second-degree assault, wanton endangerment, and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. The shooting happened shortly before 11:35 p.m. that Friday, and responding LMPD First Division officers and members of the department’s Summer Task Force arrived to find what police described as a “chaotic and active scene,” according to WDRB.
Louisville Metro EMS transported all four victims to UofL Hospital for emergency treatment, per WHAS11. The injured included a 53-year-old woman, a 16-year-old boy, and two men, ages 28 and 29, all of whom suffered non-life-threatening injuries. LMPD’s Non-Fatal Shooting Unit is now leading the investigation into what led to the gunfire.
Same Alley, Second Shooting in Weeks
This was not the first time gunfire had erupted on that stretch of Esquire Alley this year. The September 11 shooting marked the second violent incident on the same block in less than two months, following a July 25 shooting that led to the arrest of a 43-year-old man on assault and handgun charges. In the wake of the more recent shooting, the same Non-Fatal Shooting Squad directed any witnesses who were present in the alley during the gunfire to submit information through LMPD’s anonymous Crime Tip Line at 502-574-LMPD or its online portal, the station’s report noted…