Kentucky governor knew Louisville bank shooting victims

An emotional Beshear spoke at a press conference hours after the shooting and said two of his friends were among the dead. Another was taken to the hospital along with seven other victims.

“This is awful,” he said. “I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today. And I have another close friend who didn’t, either. And one who’s at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through...So when we talk about praying, I hope we will”

Beshear thanked first responders multiple times for their efforts, emphasizing that the responding officers put their lives on the line to save those in the bank. 

"I want to thank [the police officers] and all our other law enforcement officers for responding and doing their best," Beshear said while getting choked up. "To try to save some of my friends and many others."  

It was the second time that Beshear was personally touched by a mass tragedy since becoming governor.

In late 2021, one of the towns devastated by tornadoes that tore through Kentucky was Dawson Springs, the hometown of Beshear’s father, former two-term Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. Andy Beshear frequently visited Dawson Springs as a boy and has talked emotionally about his father’s hometown.

The area where Monday's shooting took place is also a place that Beshear knows intimately. He said he ran his campaign for attorney general out of the building where the shooting occurred.

"I ran my AG campaign out of that building. I know virtually everyone in it," Beshear said. "That's my bank."

Beshear asked the Louisville community to rally behind the families of the victims, and to offer them care as they work through the aftermath of the shooting. 

"There are a lot of people who are hurting today," he said. "And if we have a place to focus our energy, I hope it is to surround them with the love and the compassion that we have been so good at showing one another."

Police said the gunman may have been a current or former employee at the bank, but did not release that person's identity Monday morning. The shooter was killed after exchanging gunfire with police, although officials said it was unclear if they were killed by an officer's bullet or by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

None of the victims have been identified as of early Monday afternoon, but they are believed to be employees at the bank. The shooting took place before the building was open to the public, and witnesses said the attack happened during an early-morning meeting in one of the bank's conference rooms. 

It's the second time in a matter of weeks that a U.S. governor has had a personal connection to one of the victims from a mass shooting in their state. 

Two weeks ago, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said one of the victims in the March 28 Nashville school shooting, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, was a close friend of his wife, Maria, and that the two had been scheduled to have dinner later that day.