The attack on the bank in Louisville, which occurred on Monday and left five dead, was broadcast live by the shooter on the social network Instagram, US authorities said today.
An employee of the Old National Bank, from the city of Louisville, in the US state of Kentucky, entered his workplace armed with a shotgun and opened fire, while broadcasting everything live on the Instagram social network, according to police authorities.
Louisville Metropolitan Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel identified the attacker as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon and confirmed that the attacker livestreamed the attack on Instagram.
“It is tragic to know that this incident was filmed and broadcast,” the Metropolitan Police chief said.
Police arrived at the scene during the shootout and ended up killing the gunman, Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said.
The city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg, called the attack “a wicked act of targeted violence.”
In a statement, Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, said it had “quickly removed the live stream of this tragic incident” that occurred Monday morning.
Nine people, including two police officers, were hospitalized, University of Louisville Hospital spokeswoman Heather Fountaine said.
One of the injured, Deana Eckert, 57, died Monday night, authorities said.
One of the injured officers, Nickolas Wilt, 26, graduated from the police academy on March 31. The officer was in critical condition after being shot in the head and undergoing surgery, the police chief said. At least three patients have already been discharged.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends in the shooting.
This is the 15th shooting in the country this year and comes two weeks after three children and three adults were killed in an attack by a former student who identified herself as male at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
US President Joe Biden criticized congressional Republicans on Monday for not changing gun laws to prevent shootings like the one that took place in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Once again, our country is in mourning after a senseless act of gun violence. Jill [Biden, primeira-dama] and I pray for the lives lost and affected by today’s shooting,” said the head of state, in a message posted on the social network Twitter.
Biden has repeatedly called on Republicans, who control the House of Representatives (the lower house of the US parliament), to ban automatic rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines, which allow a gun wielder to kill a large number of people without having to stop to recharge it. more shells.
In 1994, the United States passed a federal ban on automatic rifles in the country, but it expired in 2004 without renewal by Congress.
Source: TSF
