Gun attack in US bank: 25-year-old kills five people

In a Kentucky bank, a 25-year-old man shot himself with an assault rifle, killing five people and injuring others. According to police in the city of Louisville, the gunman died after a shootout with police at the scene. The man is said to be an employee of the bank.

He filmed his attack on Monday morning and broadcast it live on the internet, police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said. “It is very tragic to know that this incident was recorded,” she said. However, the police are optimistic that they can take the images offline. Gwinn-Villaroel said investigations to date indicate the shooter legally purchased his gun less than a week earlier. The police searched his home and found several “objects”. She initially gave no details about the finds.

Louisville deputy police chief Paul Humphrey said officers arrived on the scene minutes after 911 and found the gunman, who was still firing at the time. Two officers were injured in the gunfight with him. According to police, there were only nine minutes between the start of the attack and the death of the gunman. Gwinn-Villaroel said officers “reacted in a timely and prompt manner and we stopped the threat, resulting in no further casualties”.

It was initially unclear whether the perpetrator was killed by the police or shot himself. According to the police, the victims of his attack were men and women between the ages of 40 and 64. A seriously injured woman died in hospital on Monday evening (local time). On Tuesday, four other injured people were treated in hospital, two of them in intensive care. Three others have already left the hospital. One of the attending doctors said the medical teams had to use 170 units of blood to treat the gunshot wounds.

Police Chief Gwinn-Villaroel said one of those seriously injured was a police officer who was shot in the head during the confrontation with the gunman. It concerns a 26-year-old man who recently completed police training. “He is in critical but stable condition,” she said.

A vigil is scheduled for Wednesday in Louisville. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he himself lost one of his best friends in the attack. “He is one of the people I have spoken to the most and very rarely have we spoken about my work. He was an incredible friend,” the governor said of the dead man.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg also said he lost a friend in the attack. He himself survived a shooting last year, Greenberg said. The level of gun violence was “beyond appalling”. In Louisville alone, 40 people have been killed by gun violence this year, and one more man was shot dead in the area on Monday, independent of the bank attack. “It’s happening all over America.” And it will stay that way until something is done about the gun law.

The United States has long experienced massive levels of gun violence. Rampages and deadly shootings are part of everyday life. Such larger attacks regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws – but so far without success. Firearms are easily available in the US.

After Monday’s shooting, US President Joe Biden once again called for tightening of gun laws in the country. “Too many Americans pay the price of inaction with their lives,” he said Monday. “When Will Republicans in Congress Step Up to Protect Our Communities?”

His predecessors have repeatedly failed in recent years in attempts to persuade a parliament, rife with partisan divisions, to ban assault rifles and take other protective measures. To implement them, Biden and his Democrats would have to rely on the willingness of Republicans in Congress to cooperate — but that’s not in sight at this point.

In the US, a ban on assault rifles was announced in the 1990s, but it expired after ten years. Attempts to introduce stricter gun laws and a new version of such a ban have been unsuccessful for years – mainly because Republicans are against it. And because the gun lobby, especially the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), vehemently opposes any attempt to tighten gun control. (sda/dpa)