Despite reported drop in Louisville homicides, some still feel unsafe after string of gun violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — More than a week after Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg's office reported a 22% drop in homicides last year, many people in the city say they still feel unsafe.

Back-to-back shootings over the weekend and a shooting in Louisville's Park Hill neighborhood Tuesday night have left communities shaken, despite city officials touting a drop in violent crime in Louisville Metro.

At this time in 2025, there were 157 fatal and non-fatal shootings. This year, that number is sitting at 133.

Despite a slight drop in those numbers, Louisville communities have been rocked by gun violence over the past week.

Around 10 p.m. Tuesday, Louisville Metro Police were called to the 2200 block of St. Louis Avenue, near St. Louis Park, on reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found five people who were shot.

About 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Louisville Metro Police responded to a reported shooting in the 500 block of Roy Wilkins Avenue at City View Apartments.

Police said three men were shot and taken to UofL Hospital. Two men have non-life-threatening injuries, and a third man was shot multiple times and is in critical condition, police said.

"I feel sorry for everybody around here," said one City View resident.

Later that day, a teen boy was killed in a double shooting in Louisville's Cloverleaf neighborhood.

Police said officers heard gunfire and found two teenage boys who had been shot in the 700 block of Gagel Avenue at 10:10 p.m.

According to police, one teen died at the scene, and the other was taken to UofL Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The boy who died at the scene was identified Monday by the Jefferson County Coroner as 14-year-old Jahlil Brown.

Children at the scene said a fight started inside Outer Limits Skating Rink and escalated outside the business in the parking lot, later leading to a shooting.

On Sunday, LMPD responded to a reported shooting in the 300 block of East Oak Street.

Police said officers found a man who had been shot and was unresponsive. The victim died at the scene.

Neither LMPD nor Shively police have released any information about suspects in any of the shootings.

After this string of violence, safety feels distant for many neighbors. Although Greenberg said violent crime is going down across the city, he and other leaders understand why some say they're often scared for their safety.

"We are making progress in our communities," Greenberg said Wednesday. "Events like last night and events that happened over the weekend show why we always have to do more."

Earlier this month in his first annual report for Safe Louisville, Greenberg said the city's effort to address violent crime led to a 22% drop in homicides and a 28% drop in non-fatal shootings last year.

The Safe Louisville initiative was launched in April 2025 to reduce gun violence and homicides by at least 15% per year and improve the community’s perception of safety and trust in police officers. The plan aimed to identify the areas in the city where the most crimes occur and outlined a three-point strategy to deal with it: prevention, intervention and enforcement.

"People want it to stop. People want their communities safe," said Ashley Webb, the city's Office of Violence Prevention deputy director.

Webb and her team work with people impacted by violent crime, often in the communities most impacted by gun violence.

"There is trauma attached to community violence and it takes significantly longer to feel safer in your community and any time an incident does take place, it sets back that feeling of safety," she said.

Louisville Metro's year-to-date violence dashboard shows that fatal and non-fatal shootings are down nearly 16% in the Metro. Violent crime in the city's targeted high-crime neighborhoods is down by 48%.

"That is hard to say though. It is hard to speak to those numbers because every life is a life and every time we see an act of violence, it affects our community," said Webb. "(We're) nowhere near done with the work."

You can view the full dashboard by clicking here.

As the city comes off of what Webb calls a hard weekend and a hard night, she reminds people that they're in this together.

"When you see an act of violence, it does not just affect the individuals that are involved and the families that are involved," she said. "It affects an entire community. We will continue to show up, but we will continue to ask others to show up alongside of us because we know the only way to continue to move forward is together."

Anyone with information in any shooting case is encouraged to call LMPD's anonymous Crime Tip Line at 502-574-LMPD (5673). Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the department's online Crime Tip Portal by clicking here.