The man who killed five people in Louisville was an employee at the scene of the attack and broadcast the shooting on the network

Five people were killed and at least eight injured Monday when a man opened fire at a bank in Louisville, the US capital. Kentuckyin the center USAand broadcast live coverage of the attack on the internet before it was shot down.

The attacker was Connor SturgeonA 23-year-old bank employee, according to police.

‘Live broadcast’ of attack, police chief says LouisvilleJacqueline Gwynne-Villaroel, at a press conference.

In a statement to AFPa spokeswoman for Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) said the company is “in contact with law enforcement” and said it “quickly removed the live feed of this tragic event this morning.”

Authorities did not specify the attacker’s mobile phone, but according to the network CNNthey notified him that he would be fired, and he left a letter to his relatives saying that he was going to open fire on the bank premises.

Police received reports of shootings in the area Old National Bank in the city center around 8:30 am (1230 GMT) and arrived at the scene in “less than three minutes,” said Jacqueline Gwynn-Villaroel.

According to the reporter, some of the survivors took refuge in the vault. CNN.

“The suspect opened fire on the police, we returned fire and neutralized this danger,” added Jacqueline Gwynne-Villaroel.

“The Devil’s Act”

Two officers were wounded in the skirmish. According to Gwynne-Villaroel, one of them was shot in the head and his condition after the operation is critical but stable.

The officers “entered the building knowing they were risking their lives to save others,” the city’s mayor said. LouisvilleCraig Greenberg, at a press conference.

After the attack, nine people were hospitalized, three of them are in critical condition, the department added.

One of those injured died on Monday evening, bringing the death toll to five, three men and two women, aged between 40 and 64.

“It was a diabolical act,” said Greenberg, who said he lost “a very good friend” in the murder.

The victim, Tommy Elliot, was also one of the governor’s “closest friends”. Kentucky, Andy Beshear, who honored his memory and condemned gun violence. These actions “break the bonds that hold us together,” the Democratic governor said.

President Joe Biden, who is lobbying congressmen in Washington to take action against gun violence, expressed frustration at these “senseless” deaths.

“Too many Americans are paying with their lives for inaction,” Biden tweeted. He added, “When will the Republicans in Congress take action to protect our communities?”

According to the agency, the attacker was armed with an AR-15 rifle. CNNwho quotes a federal police source.

Shooting in the US does not stop

The United States pays a high price for the large number of firearms in their country because of the ease with which Americans have access to them.

March 27 at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee (south). He killed three 9-year-old boys and three employees before being shot dead by police.

There are more personal weapons in the country than people: every third adult owns at least one weapon and almost every second person lives in a house where there is a weapon.

As a result of this spread, the country registers a very high death rate from firearms, which is incomparable with other developed countries.

About 49,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2021, compared to 45,000 in 2020, which was already a record year, according to the Archives of Gun Violence database. This amounts to more than 130 deaths per day, of which more than half are suicides. (AFP)