Off-duty Louisville corrections officer draws personal firearm, orders knife suspect to drop weapons

A knife attack in Louisville’s West End was brought to a pause after an off-duty corrections officer confronted the suspect, police said. In a report published August 8, WAVE described how the officer drew his personal firearm and ordered the suspect, identified in court records as Greer, to drop the knives during the incident.

The suspect, 65-year-old Greer, is facing charges connected to an attack that occurred August 5. The WAVE report identifies the episode as a knife assault in West Louisville, and the suspect’s age appears in the story’s accompanying caption. The timeline in the report places the charges in connection with the August 5 incident.

According to WAVE, the corrections officer was off duty at the time of the confrontation. When the situation escalated to the point that officers and the public were at risk, the officer used the authority he had through his training and experience, drawing his personal firearm and issuing commands for Greer to comply by dropping the weapons.

WAVE’s account indicates that the officer’s actions helped stop the immediate threat posed by the knives, allowing the suspect to be secured without further weapon use. The report does not describe the officer’s exact distance from Greer or whether Greer complied immediately, but it portrays the firearm draw and the verbal order as central to ending the attack.

The underlying case remains in the criminal-justice system. Greer has been charged in connection with the August 5 knife attack, and additional details about the charges, evidence, and courtroom next steps would come through charging documents and any subsequent court proceedings.

Neither the officer’s employment details beyond his corrections background nor the precise department he works for were included in the WAVE description. The report also does not provide details on any injuries to victims, though the incident’s classification as a knife attack suggests serious risk to those nearby.

As the case moves forward, the outcome will likely depend on how prosecutors document the events of August 5 and how court records characterize both the alleged assault and the circumstances surrounding the stop by the off-duty officer. For the officer, any use of a personal firearm during an off-duty intervention can become part of factual review through standard investigative and legal processes.

Public safety officials typically emphasize that weapon incidents can deteriorate quickly, and that commands and controlled restraint are critical when lethal threats are present. For neighbors in West Louisville, the focus now shifts to court accountability for the alleged attack, as well as the investigation of how the confrontation unfolded in the moments before the knives were taken out of circulation.