Kentucky Mass Shooting: What We Know

At least five people, including the suspect, are dead and three others are hospitalized following a mass shooting in northern Kentucky on early Saturday morning, according to the Florence Police Department.

Local news station WLWT reported that officers with the department responded to several calls about an active shooter around 2:51 a.m. on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, seven individuals were suffering gunshot wounds, with four pronounced dead AT the scene. Three victims were transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center across the Ohio River.

Newsweek has left a phone message for Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery and emailed Captain Eric Bowles for additional information Saturday morning.

Pastor Roger Campbell of Florence Church of God posted a prayer request for a community member on Facebook on Saturday morning. In the post, he stated that the suspect “came in uninvited on a Birthday Pool Party and killed four people.” The church identified the host of the party as a woman named Caroline. Her daughter was killed and her granddaughter is hospitalized with gunshot wounds, according to Campbell’s post.

Newsweek cannot verify the information and reached out via email and phone to the Florence Church of God requesting additional information on Saturday morning.

The suspect fled the scene in a car, according to WLWT. Police said they engaged in a chase which ended after the suspect’s vehicle veered off the road into a ditch. The suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and transported to St. Elizabeth Florence Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect has not yet been identified by police as of early Saturday afternoon. The police believe the suspect acted alone and there is no ongoing threat to the community.

Saturday’s deadly shooting comes just days after another mass shooting unfolded near the University of Cincinnati’s campus early Monday morning around 2:50 a.m. Three men died and two were in stable condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The shooting took place in Corryville. Florence is about 15 miles south of Corryville.

While there is no singular consensus on what constitutes a “mass shooting,” the nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which tracks nationwide incidents, defines it as “a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”

So far this year, there have been 277 mass shootings in the United States, according to GVA. The group’s latest data shows over 8,700 people have died from gun violence incidents across the country this year.