By Brandon Drenon & Max Matza for the BBC
Law enforcement officers gather outside the front entrance of the Old National Bank building after a gunman opened fire on April 10, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo: AFP / Luke Sharrett
The legally purchased AR-15-style rifle used in a deadly workplace shooting at a bank in Louisville will probably be auctioned to the public, officials say.
At a news conference one day after five people were killed, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg called for a change in the way confiscated guns are handled.
Four people - including a police officer - remain in the hospital.
The semi-automatic weapon had been purchased by the killer, a junior bank employee, on 4 April.
Mayor Greenberg, who nearly died in a shooting at his campaign office last year, has previously criticised Kentucky's policy for guns seized by police.
Under current state law, guns confiscated by local police - including those used in homicides - are returned to state police and then made available for purchase at auction.
In February, the mayor ordered local police to temporarily disable seized weapons and affix warning labels before handing them over to state police for resale.
The labels, which bear some resemblance to the health warnings on cigarette packages, say: "Deadly weapons like this one caused 146 homicides by gunshot wound in Louisville in 2022. Fourteen of those deaths were children."
"Under current Kentucky law, the assault rifle that was used to murder five of our neighbours and shoot at rescuing police officers will one day be auctioned off," Greenberg said at Tuesday's news conference.
"Think about that. That murder weapon will be back on the streets."
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg addresses the media conference. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Meanwhile, police confirmed that bodycam footage captured by first responders who attended the scene at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville will be released later.
A police officer who graduated into the force last month was struck in the head on Monday and remains in critical condition at Louisville hospital, officials said. He is identified as Louisville Metro officer Nickolas Wilt, 26.
Three more survivors are still at the University of Louisville Hospital in fair but stable condition, the hospital said.
The victims killed in the shooting have all been identified: Thomas Elliott, 63, James Tutt, 64, Joshua Barrick, 40, Julianna Farmer, 45, and Deana Eckert, 57.
Data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive shows there have been at least 147 mass shootings - defined as those in which at least four people were shot - so far in 2023, including at least 16 since the start of April.
Greenberg said 40 people in the city of about 628,000 have died from gun violence this year.
Jason Smith, chief medical officer at University of Louisville Health, who has led care for those injured, became emotional as he told reporters: "When you hear someone screaming mommy or daddy, it just becomes too hard to come in day in and day out and do that.
"Sooner or later it catches up to everybody."
Police say the 25-year-old suspect used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle during the incident and was broadcasting the shooting online.
He bought the gun from a local store, Louisville Metro Police Department interim chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told Tuesday's news conference.
The attacker was a current employee of Old National Bank, officials said. He had no previous contact with law enforcement.
Kentucky is one of 26 states that allow most adults over 21 years old to purchase and carry a firearm without a licence.
- BBC
