By JUSTIN STORY

justin.story@bgdailynews.com

The two Bowling Green Police Department officers wounded by gunfire Wednesday morning at a LifeSkills facility were involved in an encounter with a person experiencing a mental health crisis who became combative, according to preliminary findings from Kentucky State Police.

The KSP’s Critical Incident Response Team was requested by BGPD to investigate the incident, which took place shortly before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at the LifeSkills Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit on Woodway Street.

According to a release from KSP issued late Wednesday afternoon, city police officers were called to the facility to respond to a report of a man experiencing a mental health crisis.

During the encounter, the person became combative and attempted to disarm one of the officers and gained control of the weapon, firing it in the direction of the officers, KSP said.

One of the officers at the scene fired a shot that struck the man, who was later pronounced dead at the scene by the Warren County Coroner’s Office, KSP said.

Both officers at the scene were injured by what KSP described as “apparent gunshot wounds” and were treated and released from an area hospital for their injuries, which were deemed non-life-threatening.

KSP, which has statewide jurisdiction to investigate shootings involving law enforcement officers, said the information released Wednesday is based on a preliminary investigation, and could be subject to change as investigators continue to gather facts and interview witnesses.

The names of the BGPD officers and the person who died at the scene have not been released by authorities.

LifeSkills’ website describes the Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit as a voluntary residential facility for people experiencing a mental health crisis, with care being preceded by a phone referral or face-to-face assessment.

In a news release issued Wednesday, LifeSkills said it was cooperating with the investigation and had no additional comment, other than to say that the Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit was not available for services for the rest of the day, but that all other services and supports remained available.