'We've never dealt with this before': 4 shot dead at Florence party; suspect also dead

Editor's Note: This story has been updated after Florence police clarified the correct age of the suspect.

Police have identified the suspected shooter and the four victims who were killed in a Florence mass shooting Saturday morning.

During a press conference Saturday afternoon, Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery said Chase Garvey, 21, of Florence, is believed to have gunned down seven people at a private residence, killing four and injuring three others. The four who were killed were identified as: Melissa Parrett, 44, of Florence; Shane Miller, 20, of Florence; Hayden Rybicki, 20, of Elsmere; and Delaney Eary, 19, of Burlington.

Officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Ridgecrest Drive at around 2:50 a.m. after receiving reports of shots fired. When officers arrived on the scene, they could still hear gunshots, Mallery said.

The residence belongs to Parrett, who was having a gathering for her son’s 21st birthday party, Mallery added.

Officers saw multiple victims when they arrived at the residence.

Partygoers identified Garvey as the shooter and said he had fled the scene. They gave officers a description of his vehicle.

Police arriving at the scene saw a vehicle that matched the partygoers’ description. An officer from the Florence Police Department and a deputy from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop Garvey.

A police pursuit ensued south on U.S. 42, into Union and onto Hicks Pike, where police believe Garvey shot himself and crashed his vehicle, Mallery said. Garvey was transported to St. Elizabeth Florence Hospital where he died.

At the Ridgecrest residence, officers administered life-saving measures, but Parrett, Miller, Rybicki and Eary were pronounced dead at the scene. The other three injured people were transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where they're in stable condition and are expected to make a full recovery, Mallery said.

Garvey was not invited to the party but showed up, Mallery said. He is known to the partygoers, police said, but the exact relationship remains unclear.

Police said their initial investigation revealed Garvey acted alone.

Mallery also noted that Garvey had been convicted of a sex crime in the past. Kenton County court records show he was arrested in 2021 and charged in the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

In April 2023, Garvey was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to unlawful transaction with a minor in the second degree, a felony, court records show.

The investigation into Saturday's shooting is ongoing. Anyone with more information on this shooting is asked to call the Florence Police Department at 859-371-1234.

'A great neighborhood'

“We’ve never dealt with this before. I know it’s going on throughout the nation, but this is the first time that we’ve had a mass shooting in Florence,” said Mallery, who appeared visibly shaken up at the conference. “It is very emotional. And my emotions are for the victims, their families, the officers that responded and everybody that was touched by this situation.”

A shooting is very unusual for the neighborhood, neighbors told The Enquirer.

“When I tell you this is a great neighborhood, I’m not kidding you,” said Tony Kinmon, who said he’s lived in the neighborhood since 2006.

Greater Cincinnati's 3rd mass shooting this year

The mass shooting in Florence is Greater Cincinnati's third mass shooting of the year.

There is no settled definition of a mass shooting, but Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are injured.

This mass shooting comes after another earlier this week left three dead in the Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati. A father and son were among the three killed there on Monday.

On June 15, five people were injured in a shooting in Madisonville.

Florence mass killing is the 20th one in the U.S. this year

The shooting in Florence is the 20th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today. A mass killing is a broader term than a mass shooting. The Associated Press and USA Today define mass killings as incidents in which at least four people die, but not necessarily at the hands of a gun.

Based on early reports from police, the Florence shooting is similar to other mass killings for several reasons: It occurred in a home, rather than a public place. It may have involved members of the same family. And it ended with a self-inflicted gunshot by the suspect.

According to the database, 7 in 10 mass killings occur in residences, almost half involve family members and 1 in 3 end when suspects die by suicide.

The Florence shooting also joins the nation's growing list of mass shootings. There have been 276 other mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year, the archive confirmed 656 mass shootings in the United States, the second-highest total in the past decade and a 140% increase compared to 2014.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police ID suspect and 4 victims killed in Florence mass shooting