2 people were killed and 4 others were wounded when shots were fired into a crowd at Chickasaw Park in Louisville, Kentucky, police say
By Nouran Salahieh and Rebekah Riess, CNN
At least two people were killed and four others were wounded when shots were fired into a crowd gathered at a park in Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday, authorities said.
Officers responded to Chickasaw Park around 9 p.m. and found several people had been shot, including two who were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Four people who were found wounded were rushed to a local hospital, including one person who is in surgery and in critical condition, Louisville Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said during a news conference late Saturday night. No additional details were available about the victims.
“Hundreds of people were in the park at the time of the shooting when someone started shooting into the crowd, hitting at least six people,” Humphrey said.
It’s unclear who opened fire. Police say they have yet to identify who was responsible or determine a motive in the incident.
“I want to speak directly to whoever the shooter is,” Humphrey said during the news conference. “Turn yourself in. The best thing for you to do is to turn yourself in. We know that this will not end well. The best case scenario is for you to turn yourself in and stop this.”
The incident marks the city’s second mass shooting in less than a week. It comes just days after a gunman killed five people and injured several others Monday at Louisville’s Old National Bank — about 5 miles away from Chickasaw Park.
“This has been an unspeakable week of tragedy for our city,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said during the news conference. “On Monday, we lost five of our fellow citizens to a horrific act of workplace gun violence. And now, five days later, we’re at another scene of a reckless act of gun violence.”
Greenberg said doctors and nurses once again find themselves rushing to save the lives of gun violence victims Saturday night.
“This is not our city. This is not who we are. This is not who we want to be,” the mayor said.
As authorities investigated at the scene of the shooting at Chickasaw Park, Donna Purvis, a member of Louisville’s Metro Council who represents an area that includes the park, expressed her sadness over the continued violence in the city.
“I’m so tired of this and I can’t make any sense of it,” Purvis said as police lights flashed behind her. “Right now, I’m really at a loss for words.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Christal Hayes contributed to this report.
