LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – The ex-wife of the man killed by Louisville Police earlier this month was brought to tears remembering the moments leading up to his death.

Heather Pierce said her ex-husband, Nicholas Pierce, was a veteran with the U.S. Air Force. She also said he suffered from mental health issues.

“I mean, he wasn’t a perfect man,” she said while crying. “He made a lot of mistakes. He was a veteran.”

Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department were called to Crawford Avenue, where they found 47-year-old Pierce with a knife. Police said Pierce continued to advance towards the officers after they ordered him to drop the knife and used non-lethal methods.

That’s when officers shot Pierce. He was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he later died.

Heather sat down with WAVE to recount the final moments she spent with Pierce before his death and his deteriorating mental health state.

“I noticed we went to court on Monday and when we were done, he said ‘I love you,’” she recalled. “I didn’t think anything of it. He asked if I could give him a ride home and I said yeah and we talked and I went to the house to pick up my son’s backpack and we talked and I mean, he didn’t look right. He didn’t look like the Nick I knew, but I never thought it would be anything like this.”

She also alleged that Pierce suffered abuse while he was in LMDC and mentioned that she and their kids miss him so much. LMPD is expected to release the body camera footage from the shooting during a news conference Friday at 11 a.m.

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