Breaking News: At least five dead in Louisville, Kentucky shooting, police say

 

Police in Louisville, Kentucky, have confirmed at least five deaths as they respond to a mass shooting in a bank building in the city. The Louisville Metro Police Department took to Twitter to report the deadly incident.

An additional six people also sustained injuries in the incident and were taken to local hospitals, including a police officer. The shooting happened in Louisville's downtown area, close to the Louisville Slugger Field baseball stadium.

Videos released online appeared to show officers cordoning off a commercial property in the area. Members of the public have been urged to maintain distance from a part of East Main. The shooter is dead, but it wasn't immediately clear what led to his death.

A number of police vehicles were seen on television footage. Reporters from WHAS-TV said they saw people being rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Eyewitnesses quoted by the television station who left the building said they heard gunfire inside.

News footage from the crime scene showed a massive police presence, with shattered glass and discarded medical equipment at one location. Louisville Police confirmed in a brief news conference that officers responding to the report faced active gunshots.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he was heading to the scene, while asking netizens to "pray for all of the families impacted and for the city." Louisville's Mayor Craig Greenberg also arrived in the area shortly after the deadly mass shooting.

The shocking incident comes just a handful of days after a heavily armed attacker killed six people, including three children aged nine or under, in a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Tennessee. The suspect was shot dead by police at the scene.

There have been more than 125 mass shootings in the country so far this year. Americans are known to own more guns than any other developed country, with reportedly one in three adults having at least one weapon. So what's making it so hard to make gun laws stricter in the US?