Kentucky man who showed up at UK Hospital with guns, explosives sentenced to prison

Christopher Leach
·2 min read

A Versailles man who went to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital with body armor, guns and explosives in 2021 has been sentenced to prison, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.

Bryan Carroll, 46, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison on three federal charges, including possessing a gun as a convicted felon, carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony offense and possessing an unregistered firearm, according to court records. Carroll must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be on probation for three years following release, according to the DOJ.

Carroll pleaded guilty in November and faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and six years of supervised release.

Still from video provided by the University of Kentucky that shows Bryan Carroll, a man arrested on multiple state and federal weapons charges, going into UK Chandler Hospital’s emergency department.
Still from video provided by the University of Kentucky that shows Bryan Carroll, a man arrested on multiple state and federal weapons charges, going into UK Chandler Hospital’s emergency department.

The incident at UK Hospital unfolded after the Versailles Police Department alerted UK Police that Carroll was on his way to the hospital and he had an active arrest warrant stemming from a drug case. Law enforcement confronted Carroll outside the emergency department, where he was taken into custody after a brief struggle.

During a search of Carroll and his Honda CR-V, officers located a total of eight firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, four explosive devices, and one improvised explosive bomb, according to previous court testimony from a UK Police detective.

One of the explosives was a metal container with firework powder and 99 nails inside. When detonated, it would have released shrapnel up to 600 feet away, according to Carroll’s federal plea deal.

He cooperated with law enforcement at the scene and told them about more ammunition which he had inside his Versailles residence. When officers searched his home, they found six additional explosives, two firearms and “Improvised explosive bomb” mixtures.

The federal case was separate from state charges that also stemmed from the incident. Those charges — which include use of weapons of mass destruction, felon in possession of a handgun, possessing a controlled substance, resisting arrest, fleeing police, possessing drug paraphernalia, and being a persistent felony offender — were dismissed in January without prejudice due to Carroll being federally indicted, according to court documents.

Herald-Leader reporter Taylor Six contributed to this report.