What we know about victims of the Louisville bank shooting

Apr 10, 2023, 4:25 PM | Updated: 8:10 pm

In this photo provided by the Louisville Metro Police Department, from left, Louisville Mayor Craig...

In this photo provided by the Louisville Metro Police Department, from left, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, Officer Nickolas Wilt and Louisville Metro Interim Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel pose for a photo, in Louisville, Ky., March 31, 2023. Wilt was shot while responding to a call where a bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace early Monday, April 10. (Louisville Metro Police Department via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Louisville Metro Police Department via AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tributes were growing Monday for the five people slain in a shooting at a Louisville bank, with friends sharing details of their lives and mourners gathering at vigils.

Details were also emerging about some of the wounded, including a rookie officer who was just recently sworn in.

Louisville’s former Mayor Greg Fischer said he’d known 63-year-old Tommy Elliott, one of those killed, for 40 years. He likes to tell a story about how they met: Elliott was a young banker and Fischer was a young businessman. They were both ambitious and “wet behind the ears,” Fischer said. Elliott called him up and said he wanted to be his personal banker.

“I reminded him that my net worth was less than $5,000 and thought he was crazy,” Fischer said. “I said, ‘Your prospect list must be getting pretty bad, Tommy, to be calling me.’”

Fischer said that story highlights Elliott’s work ethic and his ability to see things in people they might not see in themselves.

“He got great joy out of helping people and seeing people succeed,” he said.

They became close friends, and when Fischer launched his first bid to be mayor, Elliott signed on to be his campaign finance manager and remained with him the rest of his political career.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents Louisville, knew Elliott for years and said, “It’s unimaginable to me that he’s not here.”

“He enjoyed life,” McGarvey said. “He enjoyed people. He enjoyed being in the mix. He enjoyed trying to get stuff done to move Louisville and Kentucky forward. He was serious about it, but he had fun with it.”

Elliott’s network of friends included Louisville native Lonnie Ali, the wife of the late boxing great Muhammad Ali. She pointed to his sense of humor and his commitment to his community.

“Tommy was such a warm, wonderful, funny, kind guy,” she said. “Just the sweetest person. And it’s just such a huge loss, not just to his friends and family, but to the community. Because that’s what Tommy was about. Tommy was about community.”

“I’m going to miss him so much,” she added.

Fischer said Elliott was a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and two stepdaughters. Fischer said it’s hard for him to imagine the hole that’s been left for them.

Nine others, including two police officers, were treated for injuries from the shooting. One of the officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, graduated from police academy March 31. He was in critical condition Monday after being shot in the head and having surgery. The police department said on Twitter that Wilt “ran towards the gunfire today to save lives.”

The other slain victims included Joshua Barrick, Juliana Farmer and James Tutt. A fifth victim, Deana Eckert, died later, police announced Monday night.

Hundreds gathered Monday evening at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where Barrick was an active member. The church placed a photo of him with a wide smile on its alter, as well as a second of Barrick with his wife and two young children.

“He was so well known, he made himself known,” said Pastor Shayne Duvall. “This community is mourning. We’re trying to wrap our heads around it.”

Duvall remembered Barrick as a big guy with a bubbly personality who coached basketball for the the first and second graders at the parish’s grade school. He described him as “very charismatic, very charming” and said Barrick was among the first who welcomed him when he came to the church less than a year ago.

Barrick had worked for about two decades in banking and previously worked at WesBanco, according to The Courier-Journal. Louisville Business First named him one of its 20 People to Know in Banking in 2020.

Tutt was a Frankfort native who graduated from the University of Kentucky and worked in banking for over 38 years, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Oldham County Judge-Executive David Voegele told the Courier-Journal that Tutt served on the Oldham-La Grange Development Authority from 2011-2022, including a number of years as its chair.

“He added a tremendous amount of insights as we went about developing our office park in LaGrange,” Voegele said. “He’s a very high quality, well-thought-of individual … It’s just sickening to hear what’s happened.”

Farmer, a loan officer, was a mother and grandmother, according to the Herald-Leader.

While mourning her friend and the other shooting victims in her hometown, Lonnie Ali lamented that “there is no place on this earth that we are safe as citizens.”

“You always have to be aware of everything going on around you,” said Ali, who is carrying on the humanitarian causes her husband championed. “And it scares me to death — not really so much for me, but for my grandchildren, my children, my friends.” ___

A previous version of this story used an incorrect spelling of Deana Eckert’s name, based on information from authorities.

___

Schreiner reported from Frankfort.

United States News

The draft of a bill that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., negotiated...

Associated Press

Crucial days ahead as debt ceiling deal goes for vote and Biden calls lawmakers for support

WASHINGTON (AP) — President disastrous U.S. default. Biden spent part of the Memorial Day holiday working the phones, calling lawmakers in both parties, as the president does his part to deliver the votes. A number of hard right conservatives are criticizing the deal as falling short of the new work requirements for older Americans in […]

21 hours ago

FILE - Activists demonstrate as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that coul...

Associated Press

Most in U.S. say don’t ban race in college admissions but that role should be small: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Supreme Court decides the fate of affirmative action, most U.S. adults say the court should allow colleges to consider race as part of the admissions process, yet few believe students’ race should ultimately play a major role in decisions, according to a new poll. The May poll from The Associated […]

21 hours ago

A sign outside a Target store is seen Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Target is removi...

Associated Press

LGBTQ+ activists call for new strategies to promote equality after Target backlash

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Following Target’s announcement last week that it removed products and relocated Pride displays to the back of certain stores in the South, activists in the LGBTQ+ community are calling for new campaigns to convince corporate leaders not to cave to anti-LGBTQ+ groups. “We need a strategy on how to deal with […]

21 hours ago

FILE - Elizabeth Holmes, then the CEO of Theranos, speaks at the Fortune Global Forum on Nov. 2, 20...

Associated Press

The day has arrived for Elizabeth Holmes to report to a Texas prison

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is scheduled to move to her new home —-a federal prison where she has been sentenced to spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley. The federal judge who sentenced Holmes, 39, in November recommended that she […]

21 hours ago

FILE - This is the Federal Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh on Monday April 24, 2023. The federal ...

Associated Press

Trial for accused gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre slated to start

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack is scheduled to get underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after a month of questioning of more than […]

21 hours ago

Associated Press

New Hampshire town recognized for historic role in racially integrating baseball in the 1940s

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — The conversation around racial integration in baseball often revolves around Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But a year earlier, history was being made in the small town of Nashua, New Hampshire. It was here that Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Don Newcombe […]

21 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

SANDERSON FORD

Thank you to Al McCoy for 51 years as voice of the Phoenix Suns

Sanderson Ford wants to share its thanks to Al McCoy for the impact he made in the Valley for more than a half-decade.

...

re:vitalize

Why drug-free weight loss still matters

Wanting to lose weight is a common goal for many people as they progress throughout life, but choosing between a holistic approach or to take medicine can be a tough decision.

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...

Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.

What we know about victims of the Louisville bank shooting