2 injured in shooting at Kentucky Expo Center Saturday morning, LMPD investigating

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man and a child were sent to the hospital Saturday morning after a shooting at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

It happened around 10:30 a.m., according to a news release from LMPD spokesman Dwight Mitchell. That's when officers from LMPD's 4th Division responded to a call of a shooting in the west wing of the Kentucky Expo Center.

There were two scheduled events taking place Saturday morning. There was a flea market in the West Wing and a gun show located in the adjacent West Hall A.

Grady McCay was standing near the entrance to the West Hall when the first bullet was fired.

"Talking to this 15-year-old and his dad, and the next thing we hear is five or six shots," McCay said.

One flea market who spoke with WDRB News compared the scene of people fleeing at the sounds of bullets to a "stampede."

"It was pretty scary, you know. Never been in that situation before, and so we got cover," Tom Walsh, a flea market customer, said. "There was a family with little kids, and the kids were crying, and they just dragged them through. And the female behind us was on the ground."

When officers arrived, they found a man who had been shot. He was taken to University Hospital, but Mitchell said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Mitchell also said a juvenile was slightly injured with a graze wound and was taken to Audubon Hospital with injuries that do not appear life-threatening.

Images from the scene show shattered glass and bullet casings on the floor near an entrance door to the West Hall.

Shell casing on ground outside Kentucky Expo Center — Pictured: this image grab taken from video dated Dec. 31, 2022, shows an empty bullet casing after a shooting at the Kentucky Expo Center on Phillips Lane in Louisville, Ky., that sent two people to the hospital.

"The severity's just starting to sink in. You know, it could've been me," McCay said.

Moments before the shooting, McCay told his girlfriend, Linda Johnson, to walk ahead so she could check out the flea market while he waited in line to enter the gun show. They both fear what could have happened if she stayed next to him.

"He could've (just) saved my life," Johnson said.

Police said the shooting was an isolated incident, and they are still searching for suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call the LMPD crime tipline at 502-574-LMPD.