May 2, 2024
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 23-year-old bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing four people — including a close friend of the governor — before being shot by police, authorities said.
“Let’s be clear about what this was,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “This was an evil act of targeted violence.”
Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference.
“The suspect shot at officers,” the police chief said. “We then returned fire and stopped that threat.”
Nine people, including two police officers, were treated for injuries from the shooting, University of Louisville Hospital spokeswoman Heather Fountaine said in an email. At least three patients had been discharged.
One of the officers was shot in the head and underwent surgery, the police chief said. The officer, a 26-year-old who had graduated from the police academy on March 31, was in critical condition.
An emotional Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends in the shooting in the building not far from the minor league ballpark Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
“These are irreplaceable, amazing individuals that a terrible act of violence tore from all of us,” the governor said of the victims.
Beshear spoke as the investigation in Louisville continued and police searched for a motive. Crime scene investigators could be seen marking and photographing numerous bullet holes in the windows near the bank’s front door.
As part of the investigation, police descended on a neighborhood about 5 miles south of the downtown shooting. The street was blocked as federal and local officers talked to residents. One home was cordoned off with caution tape.
“I’m almost speechless. You see it on the news but not at home,” said Kami Cooper, 38, who lives in the neighborhood.
A man who fled the building during the shooting told WHAS-TV that the shooter opened fire with a long rifle in a conference room in the back of the building's first floor.
“Whoever was next to me got shot — blood is on me from it,” he told the news station, pointing to his shirt. He said he fled to a break room and shut the door.
Humphrey, the deputy chief, said the actions of responding police officers undoubtedly saved lives.
“This is a tragic event,” he said. “But it was it was the heroic response of officers that made sure that no more people were more seriously injured than what happened.”
