Victim in Louisville Shooting Also Connected to Shooting Attempt Last Year

A sure sign that gun violence is out of control.

Earlier today we reported on yet another mass shooting, this time in Louisville, Kentucky, where a 23-year-old man opened fired on and killed 4 people and injured at least 8.

Just moments ago, the names of the four individuals who lost their lives shooting have been released: Tommy Elliott, Joshua Barrick, Jim Tutt, and Juliana Farmer.

While each of these deaths is undoubtedly tragic, the link between one victim, Tommy Elliot, who was not only the senior vice president of the bank but also a personal friend of Kentucky's Governor, Andy Beshear, highlights the pervasiveness of gun violence in the United States.

Elliott was also the finance chair for Louisville's Mayor, Craig Greenberg's campaign, who himself was the target of a shooting last year during a team meeting at his campaign headquarters. While Greenberg was unharmed, a bullet had grazed his sweater and shirt. Although there is no evident link between the two shootings, the fact that one individual - Tommy Elliot - was connected to both instances of gun violence, ultimately losing his life in the second, is undoubtedly chilling.

A man named Quintez Brown was eventually charged last year with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment after Greenberg was shot at in his campaign headquarters. Elliot, as the finance chair of that campaign, was very close to Greenberg before and after the shooting.

“Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on how to be a good dad,” Beshear said. “These are irreplaceable, amazing individuals that a terrible act of violence tore from all of us.”

The prevalence of gun violence in this country is a growing concern, and the fact that one person can be closely tied to two shootings in the span of approximately a year speaks volumes about the trajectory of this trend.