At least five are dead, and several more are wounded as police responded to a shooting that took place at a bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, Monday morning. The shooter is deceased, but officers have yet to explain his circumstances of death. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear stated on Twitter that he is visiting the city, will deliver remarks, and meet with the grieving families from the community.
WDRB: 5 dead, including shooter, and 9 injured after gunman opens fire in downtown Louisville office building
By WDRB Team; April 10, 2023
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Five people were killed and nine others were injured, including two police officers, when a gunman opened fire Monday morning inside a bank building in downtown Louisville.
Louisville Metro Police said officers responded to the scene around 8:30 a.m. at 333 E. Main St. — at the Preston Pointe building near Louisville Slugger Field — on reports of a “active shooter.” Police spokesman Col. Paul Humphrey said the first responding officers arrived within three minutes of the initial reports to hear the sound of gunshots still firing inside.
Humphrey said the suspected shooter, who police believe was either a current or former employee at Old National Bank, was “dead on the scene.”
“There is no active danger known to the public at this time,” he said. “This is a lone gunman involved in this.”
The nine people injured were taken to University of Louisville Hospital, and one police officer is in critical condition, UofL Health said. Three patients had been discharged by 1 p.m.
On Monday afternoon, police and ATF officers were spotted outside a home at the intersection of Taylor Avenue and Warren Street in Louisville’s Camp Taylor neighborhood. There was yellow crime scene tape and officers appeared to be conducting an investigation.
The home the officers were focused on belonged to an individual whose name has surfaced as that of the shooter. WDRB is not reporting that name until it is confirmed by police.
A neighbor said police are asking people who live near the home if they have any doorbell cameras or surveillance footage.
Meanwhile, officials are praising the quick response of law enforcement to the mass shooting.
Mayor Craig Greenberg said the actions of police, who made it to the scene in minutes, “saved lives.”
“Our community will continue to come together,” he said. “We will find ways to love and support one another and the families and friends who have been directly impacted by these acts of gun violence. And we will come together as a community to work to prevent these horrific acts of gun violence.”
Gov. Andy Beshear fought back tears as he told told reporters during a news conference inside Slugger Field that he had two “very close friends” who died in the shooting and another in the hospital “that I hope is going to make it through.”
“There are a lot of people hurting today,” he said. “And if we have a place to focus our energy, I hope it is to surround them with the love and the compassion that we have been so good at showing one another.
“We’ve got to do what we have always done after these last three years after everything. We’ve got to wrap our arms around these families. And everybody who needs it. Don’t be afraid to get some help.”
The office building is home to Old National Bank on the first floor and other offices, including the venture capital firm Chrysalis Ventures.
An LMPD spokesman said the next update from police would come at 3 p.m.
Greenberg said a family assistance center is open at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Victims and family members should use the entrance at 3rd and Market streets.
‘Gunfire erupted’
A witness who did not want to be identified said she was driving by the intersection of Main and Preston streets Monday morning when she heard several gunshots and breaking glass.
“I had just dropped my son off at work on River Road,” she said. “I was at the stoplight, and the first thing that I saw — there was a guy across the street at the intersection and he was lying down at the entrance to a hotel.”
She said the person appeared to be a man and he was being tended to by someone with a walkie-talkie. She said she at first thought he was a jogger who had fallen until she noticed he was on the steps and not the sidewalk.
Then she heard the gunfire.
“As I was sitting at that intersection, gunfire erupted, like, right over my head,” she said. “I didn’t know if it was going at the bank or out of the bank I took off.
“When I turned, I saw that one of the windows in the bank had been blown out.”
At that point, she said several law enforcement vehicles pulled up.
“They were coming from everywhere,” she said. “The police were coming out of their cars with black rifles.”
“I just ducked in my car and waited there.”
A viewer took took these videos of the scene:
Photo: WDRB Photo