Two dead and four injured in shootings in Louisville last weekend

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – A deadly weekend in Louisville with six shootings, no arrests, but the same growing concern in communities as the violence continues.

The shootings left two people dead and four injured, including a teenager. Five of these occurred within just twelve hours.

City leaders say they believe they are “moving in the right direction” to reduce gun violence.

It started late Friday night when a man was shot outside a corner store in the Russell neighborhood.

Although he is expected to survive, this could be just the start of a series of shootings this weekend.

“We have way too much gun violence in this community,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

The gun violence reached a fever pitch mid-Sunday afternoon.

Two were shot in separate shootings in the Parkland neighborhood that left one man injured and a 44-year-old man dead after what police say was an “altercation” turned fatal.

Then in Russell, a teenage boy was shot in the leg on Place Argente but was expected to survive.

An hour later, a shooting in Wyandotte.

“My husband and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, and I looked at him and said, ‘That’s a gunshot.’ And usually he says, ‘No, that’s a firework,’ and he actually said, ‘That’s a gunshot.’ And it was very close to the house,” Wyandotte resident Becky Cunningham said.

Cunningham was right about that. It was just a few feet from her house, outside Bloom’s Liquor Store. A man in his twenties was shot in the torso.

“We can hear gunshots every day,” Cunningham said. “It becomes very tiring. It’s very scary. You’re very worried because there are little children running around here. And to say I’m getting used to it is also scary.”

The victim in this case was walking through the streets of that busy neighborhood before collapsing three blocks away on Henry Avenue. He didn’t survive.

Cunningham, who has lived in the neighborhood most of her life, says the violence is something she only recently had to get used to.

“My husband usually says it’s someone who knows someone. “I don’t know if that’s true anymore because I think a lot of people get a thrill or pleasure out of just shooting a gun out of a car,” she said.

“This is going to be an issue on which we will probably never declare victory,” Greenberg said. “There is always work to be done.”

Greenberg, commenting on the weekend of violence, emphasizes the need for consequences for crimes in court.

Currently, no one who pulled the trigger this weekend has been arrested or charged.

The fatal shooting in Wyandotte marks the 134th homicide of the year. Louisville is inching closer to surpassing last year’s homicide rate.