At a press conference at Metro Hall this morning, Mayor Craig Greenberg and other public officials spoke out against gun violence and shared information about the shooting that took the lives of five people and injured eight at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville yesterday.
“We have to take action now. We need short-term action to end this gun violence epidemic now so fewer people die on our streets, and in our banks, and in our schools, and in our churches,” said Greenberg. “And for that, we need help. We need help from our friends in Frankfort and help from our friends in Washington, D.C. This isn’t about partisan politics. This is about life and death.”
“We’re all feeling shaken by this — and scared and angry and a lot of other things, too,” he added. “It’s important that we come together as a community to process this tragedy in particular, but not just this tragedy, because the reality is that we have already lost 40 people to gun violence in Louisville this year, including another young man yesterday, just a few blocks away from Old National Bank, shortly after this tragic incident happened.”
Greenberg also read a statement from Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan: “There are no words to adequately describe the sadness and devastation that our Old National family is experiencing as we grieve the tragic loss of our team members and pray for the recovery of all those who were injured.”
Greenberg also announced that the city will hold an official vigil to grieve the shooting tomorrow, April 12, at 5 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center (140 N. S. 6th St).
LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said that the shooter, Connor Sturgeon, was a current employee of Old National Bank at the time of the shooting and that he had legally purchased the involved weapon, an AR-15, at a local gun dealer last Tuesday, April 4.
Chief Gwinn-Villaroel also said that LMPD will release bodycam footage related to the shooting this afternoon.
Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer at UofL Health, thanked the American Red Cross for providing his hospital staff with more than 170 units of blood to treat the victims.
Congressman Morgan McGarvey said that he was friends with Tommy Elliott, the senior vice president of Old National Bank, who was killed on Monday.
“I had somebody tell me the other day, ‘Don’t make this political.’ Fine. Don’t make this political. People’s lives aren’t political. Public safety isn’t political. Put those policies in place that put people first — people over guns, kids over guns, public safety over guns,” said McGarvey.
“We are grieving. We are hurting. We are heartbroken. We are despondent,” he added. “But we are Louisvillians, and that same close-knit community that creates this heartbreak will knit together the strength that brings us back.”