Kentucky shooting forces PCUSA headquarters to go on lockdown
The headquarters for the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States was locked down during the Louisville bank mass shooting Monday that was just two blocks away.
Presbyterian Church (USA)’s downtown Louisville headquarters, known as the Presbyterian Center, was forced to lock down the morning of the shooting at the Old National Bank.
As employees could not enter or exit the building, they held a brief prayer service led by Kathy Lueckert, who serves as president of PCUSA’s A Corporation, which is the corporate entity of the PCUSA General Assembly.
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“It’s a beautiful morning and yet death is all around us. It’s a sad commentary that we have to have a service like this. We should not be here as we think about what has happened so close to us,” Lueckert said, as quoted in a PCUSA press release.
“I think of first responders who are processing all of this. I think of all those families who went to work today and won’t go home tonight. Life is so fragile and here we are again, thinking about the epidemic of gun violence in this country.”
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II, Stated Clerk of the PCUSA's General Assembly, was also quoted in the press release, noting that “just two blocks away from us, blood has been shed.”
“We offer our prayers of consolation for those who have suffered injury or loss and we cry out yet again, to all not directly caught up in this violence, in the words of Bob Dylan’s painful ballad, ‘How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?’” stated Nelson.
“To the leaders among us who have failed to adequately address the curse of gun violence in our country, and who continue to block legislative efforts to curtail the proliferation of weapons designed to kill, we say, once again, ENOUGH!”
Around 8:40 a.m., local police were alerted to an active shooter at the Old National Bank on the 300 block of E. Main Street in downtown Louisville, arriving a few minutes later and shooting the suspect dead.
Four individuals were killed by the shooter that morning: Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64. A fifth victim, 57-year-old Deana Eckert, died of her wounds later that evening at a hospital.
At a press conference held Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear explained that Elliot was a close friend of his, who had helped him with many issues and challenges in his life.
“Helped me become governor. Gave me advice on being a good dad. He was one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend,” Beshear said.
The shooter was identified as Connor Sturgeon, a 25-year-old bank employee who reportedly knew that he was going to be fired and had livestreamed his violent actions on Instagram.
