Gunman who killed 5 in Louisville bought rifle legally

(NewsNation) — The gunman who killed five people after opening fire at a Kentucky bank bought the rifle he used legally from a local dealership, interim Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a Tuesday news conference.

Police say a 25-year-old employee was behind Monday’s shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville. The shooter died after exchanging gunfire with police.

A motive has not been identified by authorities, but the investigation is ongoing.

“This was targeted,” Gwinn-Villaroel said. “He knew those individuals, of course, because he worked there.”

Body camera footage from the shooting will be released Tuesday afternoon, Gwinn-Villaroel said.

Five victims died in the shooting: Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; James Tutt, 64; and Deana Eckert, 57.

“These are irreplaceable, amazing individuals that a terrible act of violence tore from all of us,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Nine people were taken to UofL Health for treatment. Five of those patients sustained gunshot wounds, the hospital said Tuesday. Four victims have been discharged.

“There are no words to adequately describe the sadness and devastation that our Old National family is experiencing as we grieve the tragic loss of our team members and pray for the recovery of all those who were injured,” Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan said in a statement.

One of the officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, who was taken to the hospital after being shot in the head remains in critical condition, according to Jason Smith, chief medical officer of UofL Health. Wilt had recently been sworn in, and had only been on the job for 10 days.

Another officer, Cory Galloway, was grazed by a bullet. It was Galloway who ultimately killed the shooter within nine minutes of the 911 call. A third officer was also injured in the response, but not from a gunshot wound, according to police.

One patient, Eckert, who was taken to the hospital, died on Monday night.

Smith said the hospital used 170 units of blood to treat victims. Some of that blood was provided by the American Red Cross as the post-shooting need “far outstrips hospital capacity.”

Caring for the victims themselves, though, is something healthcare workers have done before, Smith said.

“The events surrounding this made this obviously much more difficult,” Smith said. “But to be honest with you, we barely had to adjust our operating room schedule to be able to do this. That’s how frequently we are having to deal with gun violence in our community.”

This shooting comes only two weeks after another attack, that one on a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, where a former student killed three children and three adults. In addition, there was another shooting in Louisville Monday at Jefferson Community Technical College that took a life.

In an interview with NewsNation, Greenberg, who himself is the survivor of a workplace shooting, said he is thankful for the first responders, as well as the doctors and nurses at UofL Health, for their work in the wake of the shooting.

At Tuesday’s new conference, Greenberg called for more action to reduce gun violence. Monday’s shooting brought to 40 the number of people in Louisville who have been shot to death this year.

“That level of gun violence is horrific,” Greenberg said.

A vigil is being held at 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday at the Muhammed Ali Center.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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