Louisville tragedy is at least the 146th mass shooting in the United States this year

A gunman opened fire in a downtown Louisville bank Monday morning, killing at least five people and hospitalizing eight others, the Louisville Metro Police Department confirms.

Few details had emerged by Monday afternoon about the shooter or their victims, but an emotional Gov. Andy Beshear did say one of the deceased as a “very close friend” during a news conference.

While this is Kentucky’s first mass shooting of 2023, it’s the 146th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence through police reports, news coverage and other publicly available sources.

As reported by the New York Times, there is no broad agreement about what constitutes a mass shooting, and the Gun Violence Archives defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are killed or injured.

According to figures from the archive, there have been more than 11,000 all-cause gun violence deaths so far in 2023. That includes homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings, among other types. In 2022, the Gun Violence Archive recorded 647 mass shootings, and of those, 21 involved five or more fatalities.

Here’s a brief though incomplete look at Kentucky’s history of mass shootings according to archived Associated Press and Herald-Leader staff reports.

April 10, 2023 mass shooting in Louisville

Casualties for this shooting include at least five people, who have not been publicly identified as of Monday afternoon, and at least eight more injured, LMPD confirmed.

While the details are still emerging, LMPD confirmed the shooting was at Old National Bank in downtown and the shooter had connections to the bank, Deputy Chief Col. Paul Humphrey said Monday.

The shooter’s exact connection to the bank is unknown, but they are believed to be either an employee or former employee, Humphrey said.

Sept. 19, 1989 Standard Gravure mass shooting in Louisville

Louisville has experienced mass shootings before, though Monday’s shooting is the deadliest since at least Sept. 19, 1989.

On that date, Joseph Wesbecker shot and killed eight people and wounded a dozen others at the Standard Gravure printing plant before killing himself, according to archived news reports.

Wesbecker was a former employee who was on disability leave from the plant. He was armed with an AK-47 rifle and several other guns and had more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

A coroner’s jury said excessive stress in the workplace and possibly the effects of psychiatric drugs contributed to the rampage.

Survivors and relatives of those killed sued Eli Lilly, maker of the antidepressant Prozac, arguing the drug caused Wesbecker to turn violent, but a jury cleared the company of any liability. The drug maker argued in court Wesbecker had a history of aggression, mental illness and hatred toward his former employers dating back years.

October 1989 mass shooting in Laurel County

Four people were shot to death in Laurel County in October 1989. Their bodies were found in October 1991, wrapped in quilts and sealed with cement in a septic tank at a burned-out home in Bald Rock.

Robert Foley was convicted in the murders and is on death row for those and other homicides.

April 1986 shooting in Lexington

LaFonda Fay Foster and Tina Marie Hickey Powell killed five Lexington people within three hours in this event in April 1986.

Foster was sentenced to death. The sentence was overturned by the Kentucky Supreme Court and she is serving life without parole. Powell was sentenced to life in prison.

October 1981 mass shooting in Floyd County

In another shooting in October 1981, William “Oakie” Bevins, a 71-year-old retired coal miner, murdered five men and wounded three others at a Floyd County truck parts store.

Bevins was sentenced to death. He died of a stroke at age 78 in 1989 before the sentence was carried out.

This story may be updated.

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