EA 25-year-old bank employee shot at people he knew when he was attacked in his bank, killing five. Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a press conference on Tuesday. He bought the AR-15 assault rifle legally at a local gun shop just a week earlier. The 25-year-old was killed in a shootout with police officers and eight people were injured in the shooting, which the attacker broadcast live on Instagram.
“We know that was deliberate,” Gwinn-Villaroel said. “Of course he knew these individuals because he worked there.” She praised the efforts of her officials. “They went into danger to preserve and save lives.”
Police, meanwhile, have released body camera footage of the deadly attack. The cameras were carried by officers who went out to stop the 25-year-old bank employee. Deputy Chief of Police Paul Humphrey presented the footage at a news conference on Tuesday.
Two police officers who went out were among the injured. One of them was shot in the head. Four of those killed died at the scene, a fifth person in the hospital on Monday evening. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said it was important to release the material. “Transparency is important – even more so in a time of crisis.”
Motive still unclear
Deputy Chief of Police Humphrey announced on Monday that officers arrived at the scene a few minutes after the emergency call and met the shooter, who was still firing at the time. According to police, there were only nine minutes between the start of the attack and the shooter’s death. Gwinn-Villaroel said officers responded “timely and quickly and we stopped the threat resulting in no further casualties.”
The police have not yet released any information about the exact motive. CNN had previously reported, citing security sources, that the 25-year-old had just been told he was losing his job.
Investigators examine bullet holes at the crime scene
Which: REUTERS
A CNN reporter also reported that some survivors were able to escape to the vault and contact the police from there. A witness told a local TV station that he saw a man with an “assault rifle” open fire. According to the police, the victims killed are men and women between the ages of 40 and 64.
“Everyone who was next to us was hit”
A close friend of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was among the dead, according to the governor himself. Mayor Craig Greenberg described the act as a “vicious act of targeted violence.”
The live broadcast of the deadly attack ended after a short time, said Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, on Monday. They “quickly removed the live stream of this tragic incident this morning.”
Eyewitnesses told WHAS-TV that they heard gunshots inside the building. Police vehicles were seen in front of the house. WHAS reporters reported that people were taken away in ambulances. A man who managed to escape said on television that the attacker had started firing a rifle in a first-floor conference room. “Everyone who was next to us was hit – I have blood on me,” he said, pointing to his shirt. He fled into a break room and closed the door.
The United States has long faced massive levels of gun violence. Rampages and deadly shootouts are part of everyday life. Larger attacks of this kind regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws – but so far without any success. Firearms are readily available and widely circulated in the United States.
Biden calls for stricter gun laws
After Monday’s shooting, US President Joe Biden once again called for tightening of gun laws in the country. “Too many Americans are paying the price of inaction with their lives,” he said Monday. “When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”
His predecessors repeatedly failed in attempts to persuade the parliament, which was riddled with party-political rifts, to ban assault rifles and other protective measures. In order to implement them, Biden and his Democrats would have to rely on the willingness of Republicans in Congress to cooperate – but that is not in sight on this issue.
Efforts to introduce stricter gun laws have been in vain for many years – mainly because Republicans are opposed. And because the gun lobby, led by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), vehemently opposes any attempt to regulate gun ownership more closely.