First modification:
A gunman opened fire at a bank branch in the center of the main city of the state of Kentucky, killing at least four people and wounding nine others, local police said. According to state authorities, the alleged shooter was broadcasting live when he carried out the attack, the man also died from a shot at the scene.
The shooting, the 15th mass murder in the United States 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 miles south.
Police arrived while gunfire was still going on inside the Old National Bank and exchanged fire with the shooter, Louisville Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey explained at a news conference. It is not clear if the attacker committed suicide or if the officers shot him.
“We believe the person involved is a lone gunman who had a connection to the bank. We are trying to establish what that connection was to the business, but it appears to be a former employee,” the officer added.
Humphrey noted that at least eight people are being treated at a hospital for injuries, including two police officers, one of whom is in critical condition.
The shooter broadcast “live”
Louisville authorities identified the shooter as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon. In addition, they assured that he was broadcasting live on his social networks during the attack.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, said in a statement that it “quickly removed the live broadcast of this tragic incident.”
As the AP claims, the companies on these platforms have imposed stricter rules in recent years to ban violent and extremist content. They have established systems to remove posts and broadcasts that violate those restrictions, but shocking material like the Louisville shooting continues to seep through the cracks.
Several legislators spoke out against the owners of social networks and called for tougher controls.
Friends of the governor, among the victims of the shooting
An emotional Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, said he lost friends in the shooting at the building on East Main Street, not far from Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
“This is horrible,” he emphasized. “I have a very close friend who didn’t make it today. And I have another close friend who didn’t make it either. And one who’s in the hospital and I hope he gets over it.”
It was the second time Beshear had been personally affected by a massive tragedy since he became governor.
In late 2021, one of the cities devastated by the tornadoes that ripped through Kentucky was Dawson Springs, the hometown of Beshear’s father, Steve, a former two-term state governor. Andy Beshear was a frequent visitor to Dawson Springs as a child and has spoken emotionally about his father’s hometown.
The start of the year with the most mass shootings in the United States since 2009
Deputy Chief Humphrey explained that the actions of the police officers who responded in Louisville on Monday morning undoubtedly saved lives.
“This is a tragic event. But the heroic response of the officers prevented more people from being seriously injured,” he stressed.
This year’s 15 mass shootings are the most in the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009, when 16 incidents occurred as of April 10, according to a database of these events compiled by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Since 2006, the first year data was collected, the years with the most mass murders were 2019 and 2022, with 45 and 42 shootings recorded throughout the calendar year. The pace in 2009 slowed down later, with 32 mass murders in total.
with PA
