LOUISVILLE – At least four people were murdered and eight others were injured in a shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville on Monday, according to authorities. The alleged shooter was also killed.
The shooting, the 15th in the US this year, comes only two weeks after a former student at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, approximately 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south, killed three children and three adults.
Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department said at a news conference that officers arrived as gunshots were still being fired inside the Old National Bank and exchanged fire with the shooter. It was unclear whether the shooter committed suicide or was shot by officers.
“We believe this is the work of a lone gunman with a connection to the bank.” “We’re trying to figure out what his connection to the company was, but it appears he was a previous employee,” Humphrey said.
According to Humphrey, at least eight individuals were being treated for injuries at a hospital, including two police officers, one of whom was in severe condition.
A sentimental Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost friends in the shooting at the East Main Street building, which is between Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
“This is terrible,” he exclaimed. “I had a really good buddy who passed away today. I also have another close pal who did not. And one who is in the hospital, whom I hope will survive.”
It was Beshear’s second personal experience with a mass catastrophe since becoming governor.
Dawson Springs, the hometown of Beshear’s father, former two-term Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, was one of the places destroyed by storms that ripped across Kentucky in late 2021. Andy Beshear visited Dawson Springs regularly as a child and has spoken fondly about his father’s hometown.
The deputy chief, Humphrey, stated that the actions of responding police officers in Louisville on Monday morning definitely saved lives.
“This is a tragic occurrence,” he remarked. “However, it was the officers’ heroic response that ensured no more people were seriously injured than what happened.”
According to a mass killings database kept by The Associated Press and USA Today in collaboration with Northeastern University, this year’s 15 mass shootings are the most in the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009, when 16 events happened by April 10.
Going back to 2006, the first year for which data was obtained, the years with the most mass killings were 2019 and 2022, with 45 and 42 mass killings documented throughout the course of the calendar year, respectively. In 2009, the pace eased later in the year, with 32 mass killings recorded.
