2 dead, 4 wounded in shooting at Kentucky homeless shelter

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) — Two people were killed and four wounded in a shooting at a homeless shelter for men in western Kentucky and a suspect has been taken into custody, authorities said.

Officers responded Thursday evening to a report of an active shooter at the Harbor House Christian Center, the Henderson Police Department said in a statement on social media.

The shooting occurred around 7:40 p.m. when about 15 people were inside the facility, Henderson City Commissioner Robert Pruitt told The Courier & Press in Evansville, Indiana.

Police identified the suspect as Kenneth B. Gibbs of Henderson and said he was found and taken into custody shortly before 10 p.m.

Henderson Police Chief Sean McKinney told the newspaper Gibbs was identified as the shooter by witnesses at the shelter and was armed when he was found.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Henderson this morning after a senseless act of violence took the lives of two people and left four injured,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tweeted Friday morning. “Britainy and I pray those injured recover quickly and we give thanks to our brave first responders. Henderson, we stand with you.”

Harbor House is described on its Facebook page as a Christian-based homeless shelter and a “safe harbor for men in need.”

Pruitt said Harbor House has been an asset for the community since it opened in 1989, but “tonight puts a scar on that.”

Harbor House resident Brian McClain told the newspaper a church service had just ended and he was resting in a dorm room when a man he believed to be the shooter turned the lights on suddenly.

“He looked at me funny and shut the light back off, and when he went out the dorm room, it wasn’t five seconds later I heard shots,” he said.

He said he jumped out of bed, unlocked a window and climbed out.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with people, man.”