Louisville Metro Police Department said a 13-year-old girl, shot dead in the afternoon in southwest Louisville, was targeted. But investigators say they have good leads about the suspect.
The shooting happened shortly after 4:45 pm. On Elane Drive, east of Cane Run Road, according to MetroSafe.
“The kids are dying, they’re being shot. We shouldn’t even have this conversation. It’s disgusting,” said Erica Shields, LMPD Chair at the scene. “It’s a heavy heart coming out of here. We were hit by a 12-year-old bullet, maybe seven days ago.”
The shooting marked the sixth murder in February, emerging from the deadliest January ever, with the city witnessing 24 murders so far in 2021.
“Obviously the first step is to step up our efforts and get these weapons off the streets. We just have to do that,” Shields said.
At the current rate, more people are being killed than any other day in Louisville, something the new LMBD police chief calls “heartbreaking”.
She said, “We have a very large number of children who are under fire, and this is heartbreaking.” “And we have to control it.”
In Louisville, and nationally, more young people are engaging in gun violence during the outbreak.
“They have nothing to do,” said Shields. “The schools are not open. The boys ‘and girls’ clubs are not open. It’s just a big break.” “And you aim to proliferate the illegal weapons that we’re dealing with, this is what you get. We have to change and that includes LMPD. We have to simply remove these illegal weapons from the street.”
Police say the shooter knew the 13-year-old, but there is no information yet as to the motive behind someone killing a very young person.
“It’s sad, because it’s just … this is a kid, you know? It’s their whole life in front of them and we were burying another kid. So, something in the equation has to change,” Shields said.
LMPD has not released any details of any arrests.
