Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says friend was killed in Louisville mass shooting
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said two of his close friends were caught in the mass shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville on Monday morning, and one was killed.
Giving emotional remarks at a news conference after the shooting, Beshear initially told reporters that both had died and another friend was hospitalized with injuries sustained in the attack. According to the Louisville Metro Police Department, four people were killed and nine wounded, and the gunman is also dead.
"This is awful," Beshear said at the news conference. "I have a very close friend that didn't make it today, and I have another close friend that didn't either and one who's at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through."
Beshear later said during another press conference Monday afternoon that he had been misinformed and one of the friends he thought had died was OK.
Police identified the four slain victims as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64.
Elliot was a friend of both Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
"When we talk about praying, I hope people will for those that we are hoping can make it through the surgeries that they are going through. And then we've got to do what we have done these last three years after everything, we've got to wrap our arms around these families," the governor continued, adding, "Our bodies and our minds are not meant to go through these types of tragedies."
CBS News contacted Beshear's office for additional information but did not receive an immediate response.
In addition to the victims, the suspected shooter also died on Monday, authorities said. Louisville Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters that it was unclear if the gunman died while exchanging gunfire with responding officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police later identified the gunman as a 23-year-old man who worked at the bank.
At least two police officers were shot while exchanging gunfire with the suspected shooter, according to Humphrey, who said that one of the officers was hospitalized in critical condition and undergoing surgery.
One other person was also in critical condition at the hospital, according to the deputy police chief.
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