On Monday morning, a Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace, killing five people, including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor, while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, according to authorities.
As the shooter was still firing shots, the police arrived and engaged in an exchange of gunfire inside Old National Bank, resulting in the shooter’s death. The city’s mayor called the attack “an evil act of targeted violence.”
This shooting marks the 15th mass killing in the country this year and comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Authorities identified the shooter as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, who was livestreaming during the attack.
Social media companies have imposed tougher rules to prohibit violent and extremist content, but shocking material like the Louisville shooting continues to slip through the cracks, prompting lawmakers and other critics to lash out at the technology industry for slipshod safeguards and moderation policies.
Nine people, including two police officers, were treated for injuries, and one of the wounded, identified as 57-year-old Deana Eckert, later died.
The police chief said that 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, who graduated from the police academy on March 31, was in critical condition after the shooter shot him in the head and he had surgery.
The hospital had discharged at least three patients. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends, Tommy Elliott, in the shooting, who was in the building not far from the minor league ballpark Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
