‘I’m tired of losing lives:’ Louisville mayor calls for unity, peace after 2 mass shootings

April 17, 2023

Hannah Woosley-Collins,

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) — Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg is calling for unity after the city experienced its second mass shooting in a week.

Louisville community leaders say they have been left frustrated, trying to figure out how to handle the nationwide epidemic, after Saturday night’s shooting at Chickasaw Park left two people dead and four others injured, according to ABC affiliate WHAS.

This shooting, like last Monday’s horrific incident, captured national attention.

President Joe Biden released a statement about the senseless violence:

“This morning, our nation is once again grieving for at least four Americans tragically killed at a teen’s birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama as well as two others killed last night in a crowded public park in Louisville. Jill and I are praying for their families, and for the many others injured and fighting for their lives in the wake of this weekend’s gun violence.”

According to Louisville Metro police, someone fired shots into a crowd as hundreds were inside Chickasaw Park on Saturday around 9 p.m.

The gunman shot six people; killing two and wounding four. Those four victims are in the hospital, one of which is in critical condition.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has also identified the two victims as 17-year-old David Huff and 25-year-old Deaji Goodman.

A Unity Peace Rally was held at the park a day after the shooting. The goal: to press for more solutions and resources and to pressure lawmakers to act.

Mayor Craig Greenberg, who spoke just hours before with Metro Police, said he spoke with state GOP lawmakers on Saturday about legislative action to address gun violence in Louisville. He said he’s “cautiously optimistic,” according to WHAS.

Under current Kentucky law, passed in the 1980s and amended in 2012, elected officials and local public agencies from passing firearms-related ordinances.

Specifically, the law prohibits policies addressing the “regulation of the manufacture, sale, purchase, taxation, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, storage, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, components of ammunition, firearms accessories, or combination thereof.”

April 10, Greenberg garnered national attention after calling on state lawmakers to give Louisville autonomy to deal with its unique gun crisis. That was after a mass shooting at Old National Bank killed five people and wounded eight more.

Police do not have any suspects in the Chickasaw Park shooting.