Hours after a mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville, unrelated gun violence took place 1.5 miles away at Jefferson Community & Technical College.
Source: Michael Swensen / Getty
On Monday morning, a disgruntled employee returned to the bank with an AR-15 after he learned the branch had fired him. ABC News identified the gunman as Connor Sturgeon, who live-streamed the assault that injured nine and killed four.
“Our city has experienced another horrific tragedy this morning with a shooting at Old National Bank,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg wrote in a statement.
“There, an evil acto of gun violence took multiple lives and left several people, influding one of out police officers, fighting for their lives.”
Authorities identified the four deceased victims as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64. The other nine victims were hospitalized. One of the three with critical injuries is Officer Nickolas Wilt. The 26-year-old is stable after brain surgery after he was shot in the head.
Louisville Metro PD’s Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel stated officers arrived within minutes and the gunman had no previous record with their department. There was no warning until shortly before the attack when he left notes for his parents and friends. There are conflicting reports about whether Sturgeon died by his own hand or from the shootout with police.
President Joe Biden Responds To Louisville Bank Mass Shooting
President Biden tweeted his thoughts and prayers, calling on Republicans to save lives with gun control.
“Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives. When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?” he Tweeted.
At a White House briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed the demand to ban assault rifles.
“Once again, today the president has called on Republicans in Congress to work together with Democrats to take action to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of firearms, to require background checks for all gun sales, to eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
“These are common sense actions we can ask for and should be getting right now,” she said.
“We need to act, and we need Republicans to show some courage,” she continued.
Another Louisville Shooting At Jefferson Community & Technical College Left 1 Dead And 1 Injured
Less than two miles away, JCTC was on lockdown for its own active shooter crisis. Louisville Metro PD has yet to identify the victims.
Law enforcement believes there were multiple suspects. LMPD has also not yet identified the shooters, believing they fled the scene on foot before escaping by car.
The Courier-Journal reports the homicide unit is still investigating.
Back-to-back fatal attacks in Louisville are yet another painful reminder that nothing and no one is truly free in this country but the guns. We are only 100 days into 2023, and we are already on the 145 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
As long as politicians bankrolled by gun manufacturers stay in office, the only response we’ll get to this constant crisis is thoughts and prayers.
