Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on Monday he has a ‘close friend’ among the five people who died in a shooting outside the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky.
‘I have a close friend that didn’t make it,’ he said between tears, adding that another was among at least nine people who were critically injured when a shooter — believed to be a ‘disgruntled employee’ — opened fire at around 8.30am on Monday, when the bank was first opening.
The governor said he ran his campaign out of the building, where bank employees said they tried to hide inside a vault as gunfire erupted.
Nine people are now said to be in critical condition at a local hospital, including one of two officers who were shot as they exchanged gunfire with the alleged shooter.
Among the dead is the gunman. It remains unclear whether the suspect died by officers’ gunfire or from a self-inflicted wound.
Authorities are now encouraging the public to stay away from the 300 block of East Main Street in the downtown area of the city — located just hours from Nashville, where a gunman recently opened fire at a Christian school and killed six people.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news conference that one of his ‘good friends’ was a victim of the shooting
Blood was seen on the steps outside the Old National Bank in Louisville on Monday morning
People are pictured embracing following the mass shooting at the Old National Bank
Police were deployed to the scene of the mass hooting in downtown Louisville on Monday morning
ATF officers were seen with a stretcher outside the Old National Bank on Monday
One bank employee told WHAS that they saw a man with a ‘long assault rifle’ fire multiple shots near the conference room.
‘He just started firing,’ the unnamed employee said. ‘I didn’t see his face. We were in the conference room.
‘Whoever was next to me got shot, their blood’s on me,’ he added.
Another witness said they heard multiple gunshots as well as breaking glass coming from the bank Monday morning.
‘I had just dropped my son off at work on River Road,’ an unnamed witness told WDRB. ‘I was at the stop light, and the first thing that I saw — there was a guy across the street of the intersection and he was lying down at the entrance to a hotel.’
At first, she said, she thought the man was just out for a jog — but then she noticed he was on the steps and not the sidewalk.
That is when she said she heard gunfire, with video from the scene showing at least three shots were fired.
‘As I was siting at that intersection, gunfire erupted, like, right over my head,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know if it was going at the bank or out of the bank, I took off.’
‘When I turned, I saw that one of the windows in the bank had been blown out.’
She then said she saw police vehicles pull up to the area.
‘They were coming from everywhere,’ she said. ‘The police were coming out of their cars with black rifles.’
‘I just ducked in my car and waited there.’
Authorities say there is no ongoing threat to the public, but are urging people to avoid the area as the investigation continues
Ambulances and police cars were seen outside the Louisville Slugger Field following the shooting
Police in Louisville, Kentucky are responding to an active shooter outside the Old National Bank
Investigators from the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are pictured responding to the scene of the shooting
Photograph of the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville – where police have reported an active shooter incident
At least a dozen police cars and three ambulances responded to the area according to witnesses on social media, and stretchers were seen being rolled onto some ambulances as blood and glass were seen scattered around the ground.
The FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officers are also on the scene.
Additionally, President Joe Biden has been informed of the shooting, and is said to speak about the latest mass shooting later in the day.
Old National Bank is an American regional bank with nearly 200 retail branches operated by Old National Bancorp and based in Chicago, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana.
Anyone with information is asked to call 574 – LMPD.
