On Monday, five people were killed and at least eight injured when a man opened fire on a Louisville bank branch, broadcasting live footage of the attack on the internet before being shot.
Police said the shooter was 25-year-old bank clerk Connor Sturgeon, who broadcasted the attack live, Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference.
In a statement to AFP, a spokeswoman for Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) said the company was “in contact with authorities” and said it “quickly interrupted the live broadcast of this tragic event”.
Authorities did not disclose the attacker’s motivation, but according to the CNN television station, Sturgeon had been notified that he would be fired and left a letter to the family announcing that he would open fire on the bank’s property .
The police arrived on the scene within minutes, after receiving several calls around 8:30 am, following a shooting at the buildings of the Old National Bank, in the center of the city, where the suspect was “still shooting”, even after the arrival of police forces.security, Paul Humphrey, a local police officer, told a news conference.
Some survivors took refuge in the vault, according to CNN. “The suspect fired at the police, we opened fire in response and neutralized that threat,” Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel added.
“Devilish Act”
The officers “entered the building knowing they were risking their lives to save others,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told a news conference. Two officers were injured in the shooting.
Nine people were hospitalized, three of them in critical condition, Gwinn-Villaroel said.
One of the injured died Monday night, bringing the death toll to five: three men and two women between the ages of 40 and 64.
“It was a diabolical act,” said Mayor Greenberg, who said he had lost “a good friend” in the massacre. The victim, Tommy Elliott, was also one of the “closest friends” of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who honored him and denounced gun violence.
President Joe Biden, who has been pressuring lawmakers in Washington to take action on gun violence, expressed frustration at the killings, which he called “pointless.” “Many Americans are paying the price for inaction with their lives,” he wrote on Twitter, adding, “When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”
The gunman had an AR-15 rifle in his possession, CNN said, citing a federal police source.
Proliferation
The United States is paying a heavy price for the proliferation of firearms in its territory and for the ease with which Americans can access them.
On March 27, a person opened fire at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. Killed three 9-year-old boys and three employees before being shot dead by police.
The country has more individual guns than people: One in three adults owns at least one gun in the United States, and nearly one in two lives in a household where they own a gun.
As a result of this proliferation, there is a very high rate of gun deaths in the country, incomparable to that of other developed countries.
According to the Gun Violence Archive database, a total of 49,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2021, up from 45,000 in 2020, which was already a record year. This represents more than 130 deaths per day, more than half of which are suicides.
Source: DN
