A 21-year-old Kentucky man who had documented ambitions to hunt homeless people like animals — and had already murdered, dismembered and carved satanic symbols into one victim — has been shot dead by a SWAT officer after calling 911 to announce he wanted to be killed, police have revealed in a press conference accompanied by the release of body camera footage.
Michael Hristov was killed at his Louisville home on 14 May following a standoff with police who had arrived to serve an arrest warrant connected to the brutal Christmas Eve murder of Michael Howard, a homeless man whose body was found mutilated in an encampment near the I-65 interstate. Hristov barricaded himself inside wearing body armour and armed with a handgun, and opened fire on officers when they arrived to serve the warrant. Rounds struck nearby homes and vehicles.
During the standoff, Hristov called 911. “I’m not here to kill SWAT officers,” he told the dispatcher. “I’m here to be killed by them.” Officers deployed a drone inside the home and spent approximately 20 minutes attempting to resolve the situation peacefully. Hristov then emerged from the property wearing a helmet and a ballistic vest, still armed, and refused repeated orders to drop his weapon. A SWAT officer fired a single shot, striking Hristov, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was identified as Beau Gadegaard, who has served with the Louisville Metro Police Department since 2014. According to local media, Gadegaard was previously suspended in 2016 for failing to activate his body camera during a separate deadly shooting.
The case that brought police to Hristov’s door was shocking in its detail. Howard’s naked, mutilated body had been discovered on 26 December in a homeless encampment, the day after he was killed on Christmas Eve. Eight of his toes and his genitalia had been cut off, and satanic symbols had been carved into his body. Only seven of the missing toes were recovered at the scene. A day after the murder, on Christmas Day, Hristov had also stabbed a second homeless man — who survived the attack.
The investigation took a significant turn when detectives linked both incidents to a Reddit post published on 21 December 2025 — days before the murder — which appeared to warn of a serial killer targeting homeless people near the I-65 interstate who was “supposedly drawing symbols near the bodies.” Police established that Hristov himself had written the post. Investigators subsequently identified him through surveillance footage from the Christmas Day stabbing and cellphone data placing him at both scenes.
A search warrant executed at his home in March led to the recovery of Howard’s missing toe and traces of his blood inside a backpack belonging to Hristov.
Police described Hristov as a man who “rarely” left his house, had a documented history of animal cruelty, a deep “fascination” with serial killers, “idolized” mass shooters and had made explicit statements about wanting to “hunt” homeless people. Officers also found white supremacist ideology content and Nazi symbolism in his home during the March search. He had been previously investigated for threats by federal officials.
Louisville Metro Police released body camera footage of the shooting on 27 May. Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Chief Emily McKinley said: “This is scary to know that there are people in our community, or there was somebody in our community, that was walking around daily with us and had these intense ideas. If you looked at him and saw him riding the scooter, you wouldn’t think that he was out to commit murder or to attack homeless individuals.” She added: “I think we saved the lives of other people in our community and potentially prevented a mass shooting or some other type of activity that he could have been capable of.”
Investigators are continuing to examine whether Hristov was connected to any further attacks on homeless people beyond those already identified.
