Two men are dead and four others are injured after a shooting in Louisville’s Chickasaw Park on Saturday night, according to Louisville Metro Police.
LMPD were called to the west-end park at 9 p.m. Saturday where they found six people shot, two of whom were dead when police arrived, Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told Louisville outlet WDRB. Police are still searching for a suspect.
Four others who were shot were taken to the University of Louisville Hospital. One of the victims was in critical condition as of Saturday night, according to WAVE.
The surviving victims include an adult woman as well as three other adult men.
As of Sunday, one of the survivors was released from the hospital, while another other victim who was initially admitted as critical is now listed as critical but stable.
Humphrey said many people were in the park at the time the shooting.
“As of right now, we have no witnesses to this incident,” Humphrey said. “We do know that hundreds of people were in the park at the time of this shooting … when someone started shooting into the crowd, hitting at least six people.”
The fatal shooting comes just five days after a mass shooting at the Old National Bank, which left five dead and injured several others including a rookie LMPD officer, Nickolas Wilt. The gunman was killed by police.
“This has been an unspeakable week of tragedy for our city,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “On Monday, we lost five of our fellow citizens to a horrific act of workplace gun violence. Five days later, we’re at another scene of a reckless act.”
Humphrey told media outlet WHAS11 the gun violence was “frustrating.”
“I know Monday was a very high-profile event, but for LMPD, for EMS, for fire, for University hospital, for this community — this is every night,” Humphrey said. “This is not OK. This has to change. We can talk about the politics of guns, we can talk about mental health issues, we can talk about the breakdown of the family — it is all of it.”
The deputy police chief said the community needs to be committed to short term and long term solutions to end gun violence.
“This is both gun control issues, access to gun issues, multiple guns. This is mental health. This is people who have mental health issues need to be treated and have access to treatment,” Humphrey said. “This is families who need to recognize the people in their families are going through things that they’re struggling with, and they need to take care of it.
“We all need to be there to take care of this problem. There is no one solution to this problem.”
Gov. Andy Beshear took to Twitter and called Saturday’s fatal shooting another “senseless act of violence.”
“This has been a week of tragedy and my heart breaks for those affected,” he wrote. “We must do better and lead with love, compassion and humanity to bring change.”
Greenberg said it was not just these two incidents which had happened over the weekend. He said there have been other shootings in between, resulting in more lives lost.
“It is imperative that we take immediate and collaborative action to address the underlying causes of gun violence, such as poverty, inequality, and mental health, while also implementing meaningful gun safety legislation to protect our communities.”
Congressman Morgan McGarvey also expressed “grief” and “heartbreak” as the community dealt with another act of gun violence.
Rep. Keturah Herron, who represents Louisville, said there must be the same amount of outrage and support for the Chickasaw community and those impacted.
“A public health approach must be the priority to curb gun violence,” she wrote in a tweet.
___
© 2023 Lexington Herald-Leader
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
