Five people were killed and at least six others were hospitalized after a shooting targeted a bank on Monday in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Police reported that calls came in around 8:30 a.m. (12:30 GMT) for an “active aggressor” at the Old National Bank. Officers arrived on the scene within minutes. A police spokesman told a press conference that five people had been confirmed dead inside the bank and at least six victims, including one officer with various injuries, were transported to the University of Louisville Hospital. He could not confirm the condition of the injured.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul L. Humphrey said there was no longer any danger to the public and that the suspected shooter had been neutralized. The police department reiterated this on Twitter and urged residents to stay clear of the area. A massive police deployment surrounded the Old National Bank building.
CNN reported that some people took refuge in the bank vault, locking themselves inside and contacting police from there. Fox affiliate WDRB cited a witness who heard multiple gunshots and breaking glass while in her car at a nearby intersection. “Gunfire erupted, like, right over my head,” the woman, identified only as Debbie, said. “When I turned, I saw that one of the windows in the bank had been blown out.”
Governor Andy Beshear tweeted that he was heading to the scene and asked for prayers for the families affected and for the city of Louisville. The United States, with a population of about 330 million, has roughly 400 million guns, and deadly mass shootings occur regularly. Efforts to tighten gun controls have long faced opposition from Republicans who defend the constitutional right to bear arms, leading to political paralysis despite widespread outrage.
The deadlock was highlighted last week when two Tennessee lawmakers were expelled from the state legislature after staging a floor protest calling for stricter gun control in response to a deadly elementary‑school shooting in Nashville. Monday’s incident in Louisville was the 146th mass shooting of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines such events as incidents in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the assailant.
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