A double murder suspect was wanted on the run during a fatal shooting in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – A man arrested Wednesday on two counts of murder and three counts of assault was already wanted by law enforcement, court records show.

Abraham Ahmed Balata, 39 arrested by LMPD on January 15 for a fatal shooting that left two people dead and three injured on Garland Avenue in the California Borough on December 21, 2024. Arrest documents show that Balata entered the detached garage of a home on Garland Avenue and opened fire on those found in the middle of people.

An arrest citation says one of the three surviving victims identified Balata from photos.

But unlike most accused criminals, Balata did not appear for his prison court hearing Thursday morning. Instead, he appeared in District Court on other charges of identity theft and theft by unlawful taking.

That’s because before the deadly shooting, court records show Balata was wanted in several different cases. In his last active case, Balata was wanted to flee after allegedly having his ankle monitor cut off in March 2023 while he was under house arrest.

Court documents show a judge placed him on the HIP list after he jumped out of jail on charges of burglary, theft and identity theft, but he allegedly cut off his ankle bracelet and escaped. He has since been wanted due to numerous ongoing cases.

It is still unclear where Balata was in the period between his alleged escape in 2023 and the shooting in December 2024. It is also unclear how he knew the victims of the fatal shooting in December and why it took police so long to catch up with him.

Balata is currently being held on $1 million bail. His new arraignment on the murder and assault charges is scheduled for January 17.