Family Dollar on Wilson Avenue after shooting.jpeg
WDRB Google Preferred Source Asset

See more WDRB reporting in Google Search

Add WDRB as a preferred source on Google to ensure that local news and weather from WDRB appears more often in Top Stories when relevant to your search.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A week of violence in Louisville adds to the city's growing number of fatal and nonfatal shootings. 

Thirteen people were shot in Louisville between May 17 to 24, according to community activist Christopher 2X. Two of those people were killed. 

"By the six-month mark of 2021, we could well be over 300 individuals hit by gunfire," 2X said. 

In total, the activist said there have been 68 fatal shootings so far this year in Louisville and 263 nonfatal shootings.

"It just tells me that people don't have no regard for life," said Carolyn Hollins, a Louisville mother who feels the need to speak up for her community as a parent. 

"The ones that are out here doing this, just to take another life, they just don't realize the damage they're doing to someone else's family," she said. 

Hollins was at the Family Dollar on Wilson Avenue on Tuesday. In the parking lot, a memorial of candles and flowers was set up in honor of the man who was shot and killed outside the store the night before. 

"In broad daylight, it appears to be some type of drive-by shooting where this individual was shot and struck multiple times," Louisville Metro Police Officer Beth Ruoff said Monday at the scene. 

The violence in the city is coming off the heels of a virtual summit with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer serves as the president of the organization, and 2X was asked to be a panelist. 

2X said he spoke with the mayors of Oakland and Houston, an advocate from Chicago, a doctor from California, among others. The summit's topic was "reimagining public safety."

"There was a commonality in regards to how the gunplay just damages whole communities," 2X said. "I see our situation (in Louisville) as unique in the sense that we shouldn't be at these kinds of numbers we're at right now."

While 2X said the conversation was beneficial, he also said there is no quick or easy solution to stopping gun violence. 

"There's no real concrete plan to peel back this thing in any city," he said.

He's hopeful that, over time, early intervention will create a positive change.

"When the attractiveness kind of peels away and those same people that were interested in shooting are not interested as much as they were, and that will help on the tick down side," 2X said. 

LMPD is still searching for suspects in two fatal shootings from Monday. One in the Newburg neighborhood, the other outside the Family Dollar on Wilson Avenue. If you have any information, you're asked the call the anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673). 

Related Stories:

Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.