LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It’s a Mother’s Day weekend so violent in Louisville, community activist Christopher 2X was almost at a loss for words.
“I’ve never seen, in a 36-hour time-frame or even a 72-hour time-frame, where we’ve had three double shootings like that," 2X said.
The latest one happened around lunchtime Sunday on Halsey Court in Beechmont. LMPD found a man and a woman shot to death inside a home.
Saturday night, a shooting on Cedrus Court in Newburg injured a man and a young child. The two were found in a car at a Wendy’s near Shepherdsville. LMPD spokesperson Dwight Mitchell says the child will recover from the injury.
There was another shooting early Saturday morning on Caldwell Street in Old Louisville. A 15-year-old boy was hurt and 19-year-old Kelsie Small was killed.
Shooting scene on Caldwell Street. May 9, 2020.
"Her mother and I have been friends for going on 15 years now, and so, when I found out it was Kelsie, my heart kind of dropped," 2X said.
According to 2X, Small was a Northern Kentucky University nursing student with a bright future.
Kelsie Small- Photo courtesy of the Small family and Christopher 2X.
“She was focused," he said. "She was driven.”
As of last Tuesday, Louisville had recorded 40 criminal homicides so far this year. 2X, whose organization Game Changers combats violence in Louisville, worries this spike is on track with previous violent years like 2016.
“That pattern is as clear as it can be," he said.
Chief Steve Conrad has acknowledged the troubling increases in homicides and non-fatal shootings so far this year. He's labeled the trend as "another pandemic" for the city.
LMPD Chief Steve Conrad
While 2X doesn’t really think there’s much LMPD can do differently to change the trend, he does think there’s something the community can do.
“The internal will of the people will be at least, for me, personally, the biggest connection to a tick-down if we’re going to have one at some point in time," he said.
Along those same lines, Chief Conrad has said this isn’t a problem LMPD can arrest its way out of, but he wants anyone who knows anything to call the department tipline: 574-LMPD.
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- Police: Man, woman found shot dead in Louisville's Iroquois neighborhood
- MetroSafe: Police investigating shooting in Newburg neighborhood after man, child found shot in Shepherdsville
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