LMPD: Shooting at Louisville's Waterfront Park injures 5 teens, at least 1 critically
A shooting Saturday evening at Louisville's Big Four Bridge hospitalized five teenagers, according to police, with at least one in critical condition.
Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said First Division officers were dispatched just after 9 p.m. on a report of a shooting at Waterfront Park by the base of the Big Four Bridge, a pedestrian crossing that extends over the Ohio River into Southern Indiana.
Three juveniles who had been shot were found at the scene and taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, Smiley said, where at least one remained in critical condition late Saturday evening.
Two other individuals who had been shot were also taken to the hospital by private means, Smiley said, with LMPD Maj. Brian Kuriger saying their injuries are not believed to be critical. Little additional information about the individuals who had been shot was made immediately available, though Smiley noted both male and female victims were hospitalized.
No arrests had taken place as of Saturday evening as police continue to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to call LMPD's crime tip hotline at 502-574-5673. The department's homicide unit is handling the investigation, Smiley said.
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Speaking at the scene Saturday night, Kuriger urged those who had been in attendance to reach out to the department with information and called on parents to provide supervision at the park "so that we can stop this violence that's occurring inside Louisville Metro, and specifically down here at Waterfront Park."
The park was crowded that evening, he said, and a Racing Louisville FC soccer game had just wrapped up at nearby Lynn Family Stadium.
Kuriger said all five people injured are teenagers. The department will be increasing its presence at Waterfront Park moving forward, he added.
"It's tough, you know, it's tough," Kuriger said. "The last thing you want to do is show up on a run and you've got somebody who's been shot, at any age. But it's even tougher when you have juveniles or adolescents or anybody that's in their teenage years to have their whole life ahead of them that are going through this traumatic event where they're a victim."
The Saturday shooting came after two homicides were reported Friday night — one fatal shooting outside a business along Broadway, and another fatal shooting in Bashford Manor.
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Earlier in the day, Louisville hosted a March for Our Lives event where hundreds walked through downtown calling for stricter gun legislation and an end to gun violence, which has plagued the city in recent years. LMPD has responded to more than 70 homicides in 2022 and investigated a city record 187 homicides in 2021.
This story will be updated.
Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Waterfront Park shooting leaves 5 injured, Louisville police say
