Callers reported Monday morning that an “active attacker” had broken into the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, police said. Officials were there “within minutes”. Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said the suspect shot the police officers. The officers would have returned fire and shot the 23-year-old.
“His weapon was a rifle,” said the police chief. “The suspect was streaming live.” She did not provide any information about the man’s possible motive. However, the television channel CNN reported, citing security circles, that the 23-year-old had just been told that he would lose his job.
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 fatalities were three men and one woman between the ages of 40 and 64. Three of the injured were initially in mortal danger.
US President Joe Biden was frustrated by the repeated “senseless” killings. “Too many Americans are paying the price of inaction with their lives,” he wrote on Twitter. “When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?” Biden has repeatedly called for stricter measures against gun violence.
Gun law is a highly controversial issue in the United States. In the country, which has a constitutional right to own guns, there are an estimated 393 million publicly owned firearms. That means 120 firearms for every 100 residents. According to the specialist website Gun Violence Archive, more than 20,200 people were killed by guns last year, not including suicides.
