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A recent shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, bank was especially personal for the city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg.
Greenberg, a survivor of workplace gun violence himself, revealed that he had lost a close friend in the Monday morning attack.
“Last year, I survived a workplace shooting. And now yesterday, I’ve lost a very close friend in another workplace shooting,” he said of Tommy Elliot, a senior vice president at the Old National Bank – where a gunman opened fire killing five.
Last year, as a Democratic mayoral candidate, Greenberg had been the target of a shooting at his campaign headquarters. While he wasn’t injured in the shooting, CNN previously reported that a round appeared to strike his clothing in the incident.
“It is painful, painful for all of the families I know,” he said of the latest shooting, adding: “It just hits home in a unique way when you know one of the victims so well.”
The mayor on Tuesday pushed for gun reform, arguing that the state law should be changed.
“Let us, the people of Louisville, make our own choices about how we reduce gun violence in our city,” he said.
‘Beyond horrific’
Forty people have been killed by guns so far this year in Louisville, Greenberg said Tuesday, delivering an impassioned plea for state and federal government to take action on gun violence or to cede that power to the city.
“That level of gun violence is beyond horrific,” he said.
“We have to take action now. We need short-term action to end this gun violence epidemic now so fewer people die on our streets, and in our banks, and in our schools and in our churches. And for that, we need help. We need help from our friends in Frankfurt and help from our friends in Washington, DC,” the mayor added.
Authorities said a 25-year-old employee of Old National Bank had opened fire on his colleagues Monday morning as they gathered for a meeting before the bank opened its doors.
