On the evening of February 4, 2018, 19-year-old Carl Garner Jr. was found by a family member inside a River Park Drive residence in Lexington, Kentucky, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital and died shortly after 9:30 p.m. Police described damage to the house consistent with gunfire but did not say whether Garner was shot inside or outside the home.

Garner had drawn national attention in 2016 for an essay about whether a hotdog is a sandwich that was featured on the comedy podcast Judge John Hodgman. Teachers and local school officials remembered him as kind and full of integrity, a young man with promise whose death devastated family and friends. Lexington police opened a homicide investigation and have asked the public for information.

No arrests or publicly identified suspects have been announced. If anyone knew Carl or has information about the shooting on River Park Drive, please come forward.