LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people and wounded at least eight others Monday, police said. The suspected shooter was also dead.
The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, about 160 mile (260 kilometers) to the south.
Police arrived as gunshots were still being fired inside the Old National Bank and exchanged fire with the shooter, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said at a news conference. It wasn't clear whether the shooter killed himself or was shot by officers.
“We believe this is a lone gunman involved in this that did have a connection to the bank. We’re trying to establish what that connection was to the business, but it appears he was a previous employee,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey said that at least eight people were being treated at a hospital for wounds, including two police officers, one of whom was in critical condition.
An emotional Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost friends in the shooting in the building on East Main Street not far from the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
“This is awful,” he said. “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’s at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”
It was the second time that Beshear was personally touched by a mass tragedy since becoming governor.
In late 2021, one of the towns devastated by tornadoes that tore through Kentucky was Dawson Springs, the hometown of Beshear’s father, former two-term Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. Andy Beshear frequently visited Dawson Springs as a boy and has talked emotionally about his father’s hometown.
Humphrey, the deputy chief, said the actions of responding police officers in Louisville on Monday morning had 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.”
This year's 15 mass shootings is the most during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009, when 16 incidents had occurred by April 10, according to a mass killings database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Going back to 2006, the first year for which data has been compiled, the years with the most mass killings were 2019 and 2022, with 45 and 42 mass killings recorded during the entire calendar year. The pace in 2009 slowed later in the year, with 32 mass killings recorded that year.\
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooting Monday at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people and wounded at least eight others, police said. The suspected lone shooter was also dead.
Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters officers who arrived on the scene “encountered active gunshots still being fired inside the location at that time.”
Officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who appeared to be a former employee of the bank, but it wasn't clear how he died.
“We do not know exactly the circumstances of his death at this time,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey said at least eight people were being treated for wounds, including two police officers. One officer and another of the wounded were in critical condition.
Police later said on a twitter that officers we’re on the scene of the shooting within minutes. Calls first came in for the shooting at the Old National Bank about 8:30 a.m.
In a tweet, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he was heading to the scene.
“Please pray for all of the families impacted and for the city of Louisville,” Beshear said.
The FBI said its agents were also responding to the shooting.
The shooting happened in a building on East Main Street not far from the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooting Monday at a bank building in downtown Louisville killed five people and wounded at least six others, police said. The suspected shooter was also dead, police said.
Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters officers who arrived on the scene “encountered active gunshots still being fired inside the location at that time.”
“The shooter was confirmed to be dead on the scene,” Humphrey said. “We do not know exactly the circumstances of his death at this time.”
Humphrey said at least six wounded people, including one police officer, were taken to a hospital but he had no details on their conditions.
Witnesses who left the building told Louisville station WHAS-TV they heard gunfire inside the building and television footage showed numerous police vehicles in the area.
In a tweet, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he was heading to the scene.
“Please pray for all of the families impacted and for the city of Louisville,” Beshear said.
The FBI said its agents were also responding to the shooting.
The shooting happened in a building on East Main Street that houses the Old National Bank not far from the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police are reporting “multiple casualties” as they respond to a shooting in a bank building in downtown Louisville.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said Monday on Twitter there was an ongoing situation and asked people to avoid the area. "There are multiple casualties," police said in the tweet. Police described it as an “active aggressor.”
Witnesses who left the building told WHAS-TV they heard gunfire inside the building.
Numerous police vehicles were seen on television footage. WHAS reporters said they saw people being taken from the scene in ambulances.
In a tweet, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he was heading to the scene.
“Please pray for all of the families impacted and for the city of Louisville,” Beshear said.
The FBI said its agents were also responding to the shooting.
The shooting happened in a building on East Main Street that houses the Old National Bank not far from the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.