Police in Louisville, Kentucky, have confirmed the death of one of those wounded during a bank shooting in the U.S. city, raising the death toll to five, with eight people injured.
The attacker, identified as Connor Sturgeon, 25, was currently a worker at the Old National bank and began shooting at other employees during a meeting in the morning, half an hour before the establishment opened to the public, according to CNN.
Some participants in the employee meeting were following it telematically, so some of the employees saw the shooting happening virtually at the time. In addition, the attacker broadcast it live through the Instagram application in a video that has already been withdrawn by the police, according to the aforementioned chain.
Officers went to the bank three minutes after they received the tip-off, and confronted the shooter, who was still inside. One of the officers, who had been on duty for only ten days, was shot in the head and is hospitalized in serious condition. During this confrontation, the officers »neutralized» the shooter.
According to a source confirmed to the aforementioned channel, the attacker had just been informed that he was going to be fired from the bank, where he had been working for a year. He was »a lone wolf», in the words of the police chief, Paul Humphrey, during a press conference.
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has traveled to the scene, from where he condemned the »horrible» attack in an appearance before the media. Beshear confirmed that he had a relationship with the attacked bank and that among the victims there are several »close friends» of his.
NEED FOR GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION The attacker apparently used an AR-15 assault rifle, according to federal law enforcement sources consulted by CNN, which could further reignite the debate over restrictions on gun ownership.
U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken with the governor of Kentucky and sent his condolences to the friends and families of the deceased, and has again called on Republican members of the House of Congress to join efforts to tighten gun laws.
»A vast majority of Americans want lawmakers to act on logical gun safety reforms,» the president said in a statement. Instead, from Florida to North Carolina to the House of Representatives, we have seen Republican officials push to uphold laws that will make our schools, our places of worship and our communities less safe,» he added.
During a press conference, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that the U.S. president »has acted again and again» to try to legislate on guns.
What happens is that the president cannot do it alone, there is a legislative process that has to take place, and for that Congress has to act,» she said in response to criticism about the lack of effective measures on the part of the US president.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
