On Monday morning at around 8:30am, EST, a gunman entered Old National Bank in downtown Lousville, KY and opened fire. The latest reports from police indicate that “[a]t least five people were killed” along with eight others sustaining injuries.
After arriving at the bank, police said that “[r]esponding officers exchanged gunfire…but it wasn’t immediately clear if the shooter died from police gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear spoke with reporters, viscerally fighting back tears, as he recalled how his 2015 attorney general campaign was based out of the building that housed the bank, stating “This is awful…I have a very close friend who didn’t make it today, and I have another close friend who didn’t either, and one who is at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”
Two senior officials have indicated that “[t]he shooter is believed to be an employee who may have suffered from mental health issues,” and as such this is being investigated “as a workplace violence situation.”
Paul Humphrey, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief, praised the responding officers, “It is clear from the officers’ response that they absolutely saved peoples’ lives…This was a tragic event but it was the heroic response of officers that made sure that no more people were more seriously injured than what happened.”
The Louisville “Police Department was still investigating the shooting at the bank when one man was fatally shot and another person was injured in a shooting later on Monday morning outside Jefferson Community and Technical College, less than two miles from the bank,” the New York Times reports, although police do not believe the two are connected. Afterward, the college has closed and cancelled classes “out of reverence for those involved in shootings that have occurred today.”
State Representative Keturah Herron, who represents a portion of Louisville, tweeted “This is happening around the country in a city daily. Today was our turn in Louisville, KY. As we hold our community tighter there must me outrage and anger. We live in a war zone and we shouldn’t have to.”
Following today’s shooting, President Biden issued a renewed a call to action around passing commonsense gun safety legislation, tweeting out, “Once again, our nation mourns after a senseless act of gun violence — Jill and I pray for the lives lost and impacted by today’s shooting. Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives. When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”