Louisville bank shooting is America’s 146th mass shooting in 2023
Kentucky is the latest state in America to be rocked by gun violence, as the mass shooting at a Louisville bank was the 146th in 2023.
The US hit the grim milestone Monday morning, which has already surpassed previous years – after the deadly shooting that left five dead, including the gunman, and eight wounded at the Old National Bank.
Last year there were 130 mass shootings in the US on April 10, 2022. The number later skyrocketed to 646 by the end of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive – a non-profit organization that compiles statistics on shootings in the US.
Around the same time in previous years, the numbers were slightly lower, including 137 in 2021 and 87 in 2020. The totals for each year eventually skyrocketed to between 610 and 690.
The Louisville shooting occurred a few hours north of the March 27 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, which left six dead, including three nine-year-olds. The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are injured with a firearm.
The shooting in Kentucky on Monday morning marked the 146 mass shootings in 2023. The chart above shows the number of mass shootings through April 10 in previous years on the left. On the right you see the total number per year
Blood was seen on the steps outside the Old National Bank in Louisville Monday morning
The Nashville shooting, the 129th mass shooting this year, is one of only five in history to involve a female gunman.
The rare attacks first occurred in 1979 with a teenage girl who said she killed because she “didn’t like Mondays.”
So far this year, California, Texas and Florida have had 13 recorded mass shootings, while Louisiana had 12 and Illinois and Tennessee had eight, according to the Gun Violence Archives.
Authorities have not identified the Louisville bank shooter or his motive.
Initially, five people were reported dead and six injured until late Monday morning, when authorities announced nine people were in critical condition.
Among those injured is one of two officers who were shot when they exchanged gunfire with the alleged gunman.
The shooter is among the dead. It remains unclear whether the suspect was killed by officers’ gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.
A bank employee recalled the deadly incident that began around 8:30 a.m. when a man with a “long assault rifle” fired several shots near the conference room, the unidentified employee said. WHY.
“He just started firing,” the unnamed employee said. ‘I didn’t see his face. We were in the conference room.
“Whoever sat next to me got shot, their blood is on me,” he added.
Another witness said they heard multiple gunshots and shattering glass coming from the bank on Monday morning.
The deadliest mass shooting of the year was on Jan. 21 in Monterey Park, California — killing 11 people before the gunman killed himself during a police standoff.
The incident at the Star Ballroom Studio in which 72-year-old Huu Can Tran had previously taught classes before being expelled took place during the Lunar New Year celebrations.
People are pictured embracing each other after the mass shooting at the Old National Bank
Photos from the scene show the destroyed classroom in the Old National Bank after the shooting
Police were deployed to the scene of the mass shooting in downtown Louisville Monday morning
ATF agents were seen on Monday with a stretcher outside the Old National Bank
Two people are pictured embracing outside the Old National Bank in Louisville
Ambulances and police cars were seen outside the Louisville Slugger Field after the shooting
| Stands | Number of mass shootings |
|---|---|
| Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado DC Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania south carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wisconsin |
2 2 3 13 4 1 13 5 8 1 1 12 5 2 4 3 3 3 5 8 5 1 9 4 8 13 1 113 |
Eight people were killed in a January 4 shooting in Cedar City, Utah, in which Michael Haight killed his wife, their five children and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself.
According to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, there are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans.
No other country has more civilian guns than people, with about 44 percent of American adults living in a household with a gun.
According to a November 2020 Gallup survey, about a third personally own one. One-third of American adults believe there would be less crime if more people owned guns.
However, multiple studies show that where people have easy access to firearms, gun deaths are more likely, including suicide, homicide, and accidental injury.
Mass shootings are also driving a demand for more guns, with many Americans feeling they are “safer” if they personally own a gun.
Gun violence rates are eight times higher than Canada, which has the seventh highest gun ownership rate in the world.
Figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and 2019 evaluation data show that gun deaths in the US are 22 times higher than in the European Union and 23 times higher than in Australia.
Discussions about gun violence and the Second Amendment are always at the center of politics in the US, with President Joe Biden constantly bemoaning Congress’s inability to enact “common sense” action following multiple mass shootings this year.
The president made an emotional appeal for stricter gun laws when he signed an executive order to increase background checks following California’s deadliest shooting of the year.
He said, “Ban assault weapons. Ban them again. Do it now. Enough. Do something. Do something big.’
His order will increase background checks to purchase guns, promote better and safer firearms storage and ensure U.S. law enforcement agencies get the most out of a bipartisan gun control bill passed last summer.
But many Republicans, who currently control the House, blame a “mental health crisis” in the US as the cause of the gun violence problem.