An emotional Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has revealed that two of his “close friends” were among the four victims gunned down in Monday’s Louisville bank shooting.
The Democratic chief executive said another friend was among the eight injured when a lone gunman stormed into the Old National Bank in the city’s downtown area and opened fire around 8:30 a.m.
“This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today. And I have another close friend who didn’t either,” a tearful Beshear said at a press conference.
“And another who’s at the hospital who I hope is going to make it through.”
Police haven’t yet released the identities of the slain or injured victims.
Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said two of the injured were cops who were hurt when officers engaged in a shootout with the gunman just moments after arriving.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said two of his friends were killed in Monday’s mass shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville. Getty Images
Four victims were killed and eight others injured when a gunman stormed into the bank building at about 8:30 a.m. KLKYOne of those officers was in critical condition and undergoing surgery at the University of Louisville Hospital as of Monday morning, Humphrey said.
Beshear heaped praise on the responding officers in the wake of the shooting.
“I want to thank them, and all of our other law enforcement officers, for responding and doing their best to try and save some of my friends and many others,” Beshear said.
A Louisville Metro Police crime scene technician photographs bullet holes in the glass of the Old National Bank building. AP
Bullet holes in the front windows of the Old National Bank building. AP
LMPD officers search for evidence. Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK
Blood covers the ground as officers secure the area near Slugger Field. WLKY NewsThe gunman, who also hasn’t been publicly identified, was killed in the ordeal.
“We believe this is a lone gunman involved in this that did have a connection to the bank,” Humphrey said. “We’re trying to establish what that connection was to the business, but it appears he was a previous employee.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, survivors recalled seeing the gunman firing off several shots with a “long assault rifle” on the first floor of the bank’s building.
Police gather outside Slugger Field in Louisville. WLKY News
Two police officers were injured in a shootout with the gunman. via REUTERS
Witness Troy Haste recalled the person next to him getting shot, “their blood’s on me.” WLKY“He just started firing,” witness Troy Haste, an account executive at Old National Bank, told WLKY. “I didn’t see his face. We were in the conference room. Whoever was next to me got shot, their blood’s on me.”
Another witness said he ran for his life as soon as the gunfire erupted.
Follow The Post’s latest coverage of the shooting in Louisville
“We have a break room. I got in there, shut the door for a second, and then I was looking around opening the door to see where he was at, and I could see him still shooting,” the man told WHAS-TV.
“I didn’t see his face, and then I took off running out the front door.”
