5 killed, 8 injured in downtown Louisville shooting; suspected gunman dead
At least five people were killed in a shooting Monday at an Old National Bank branch in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, and at least eight others were hospitalized, officials said. The suspected gunman was also dead, police said.
Police identified the five slain victims as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; James Tutt, 64; Deana Eckert, 57; and Juliana Farmer. Police provided two ages for Farmer, and it wasn't immediately clear which was the right one.
Louisville Metro Police Department interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel identified the gunman as Connor Sturgeon and said he worked at the bank. Police later tweeted that he was 25 years old.
"Let's be clear about what this was: This was an evil act of targeted violence," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
The mayor said he was also a survivor of a workplace shooting. "To the people who survived: Whether you were physically hurt or not, I know that you're hurting too," he said.
The gunman was shot and killed by responding officers, Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters during an afternoon press conference. She said the gunman was livestreaming during the rampage. The gunman used an assault AR-style weapon, a law enforcement source told CBS News.
"Unfortunately, that's tragic to know that that incident was out there and captured, and so we're hopeful that we can have that incident removed, that footage removed," the chief said.
Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said during an earlier press conference that investigators believe the gunman acted alone. "There is no active threat," he said.
Three people had been in critical condition at the University of Louisville Hospital, including a police officer, Gwinn-Villaroel said. Officer Nickolas Wilt, a 26-year-old who graduated from the police academy at the end of March, was shot in the head and was in critical but stable condition after surgery, the chief said. A bullet grazed another officer and the third suffered minor injuries, the chief said.
Three victims were listed in non-critical condition, and three other victims have been treated and released, she said.
Governor Andy Beshear and Greenberg told reporters Elliot was their friend. The governor had earlier said he lost another friend in the rampage, but he said during the afternoon press conference that he was misinformed and the friend was actually OK. A third friend of the governor's was hurt in the shooting and was being treated in the hospital.
Beshear called Elliot one of his closest friends and said Elliot helped him build his law career, become governor and gave him advice on how to be a good dad.
"He's one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely we'll be talking about my job," Beshear said. "He was an incredible friend."
The governor urged people to support the victims' families.
"I think what we need most right now, in a word, is love," Beshear said. "… They are going to need that love, and we need love for each other."
President Biden spoke with Beshear on Monday afternoon, the White House said.
Humphrey said officers responded to the shooting within three minutes of being dispatched and credited the quick response with saving lives.
"This is 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," Humphrey said.
Police earlier said they were responding to an "active aggressor" and the FBI said its agents were also responding to the shooting.
Officials urged people to avoid the area.
Caleb Goodlett told CBS affiliate WLKY-TV he received a call from his wife who works at the bank at 8:30 a.m. She was calling from inside a vault and she told him there was a gunman in the bank, Goodlett told the station.
Goodlett said his wife asked him to call the police. When he called 911, he was told police were already responding.
Grace Poganski told CBS News she heard what sounded like metal hitting the pavement outside her condo building Monday morning. When she looked out the window of her condo, she said she saw a police officer with a rifle who appeared to be shooting at the front door of the bank.
She described the neighborhood as "relatively quiet" and noted a minor-league ballpark was located nearby.
"We see shootings all over the country, and now it's right at our doorstep, and it's quite scary," Poganski told CBS News.
Monday's shooting happened two weeks after a shooter killed three 9-year-old children and three adults at a school in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter in that rampage died in a confrontation with police inside the school.
In another shooting in Louisville that wasn't related to the rampage at the bank, one person was killed and another wounded Monday morning at Jefferson Community and Technical College, police said. Maj. Russ Miller told reporters the shooting happened in front of a building on campus.
Miller said preliminary information in the investigation indicated there could be multiple suspects in the shooting and they fled the scene.