At least five people were killed, including the gunman, and eight others were hospitalized following a shooting at a bank building Monday in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
“The shooter was confirmed to be dead on the scene,” Louisville Metro Policy Deputy Paul Humprhey told reporters.
“We are trying to confirm if that suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or was killed by officers at this time,” Humprhey added during a televised news conference around 11am ET.
He went on, “At least two officers were shot during this exchange of gunfire. One is currently in surgery at University of Louisville hospital. At least four more victims were confirmed to be deceased inside the location as well as eight that are now currently being treated at University Hospital. Two are critical, one of those being the officer.”
Police are currently working to ID the victims and contact their loved ones, Humprhey said.
He stated that there was no longer an active threat, but police believe the gunman had some “connection to the bank.”
“We’re trying to establish what that connection was but we believe he was a previous employee,” added Humphrey.
Old National Bank, where the shooting occurred, is not far from Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
“This is awful. I have a very close friend who didn’t make it today,” Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said on scene at the news conference, adding that Old National was his bank. “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. So when we talk about praying I hope people will.”
He further said that he hoped everyone who needs it gets some help. “Our bodies and our minds are not meant to go through these tragedies.”
The Louisville shooting is the 145th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, as defined by four or more victims killed or wounded, according to the Gun Violence Archive. It occurred roughly two weeks after three 9-year-olds and three adults were shot and killed at a Christian school in Nashville. In the two weeks between those two shootings, at least 15 other mass shootings occurred in the U.S.
