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Four or more killed in shooting for fifth time this year

Students yell, asking for gun reform legislation and support the Tennessee Three outside the House chamber Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee Republicans are seeking to oust three House Democrats for their role in a demonstration calling for gun control following the Nashville school shooting. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

(NewsNation) — A shooting that left four dead in Louisville, Kentucky Monday marks the fifth time in 2023 that four or more victims have been killed in a public place.

Police confirmed the shooter along with four victims were killed in a shooting inside Old National Bank in downtown Louisville. Nine people were taken to a nearby hospital, including two police officers.

Exactly two weeks ago on March 27, a shooter killed six at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, killed three children and three adults before police shot and killed Hale.

Police reported Hale was a former student at the Convent School and had written a manifesto detailing what police called a “targeted attack.” This was the thirteenth school shooting in the U.S. for 2023 so far.

In February, six people were shot dead in the small rural town of Arkabutla, Mississippi, police reported.

The 52-year-old gunman, Richard Dale Crum, opened fire in multiple locations killing a total of six people including his ex-wife and stepfather. Crum’s ex-wife’s current husband was also wounded in the shooting.

In January, there were a pair of shootings in California, including in Half Moon Bay. Seven people were killed in incidents at two Northern California mushroom farms on Jan. 23.

Authorities said 66-year-old Chunli Zhao entered the mushroom farm where he worked and started shooting, killing four and injuring another, before driving to another farm where he killed three more. The local sheriff’s office said he previously worked at the second farm as well. 

Zhao was charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder soon after the shootings.

The deadliest shooting of the year thus far took place on Jan. 21 at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, with 11 confirmed victims.

Police reported Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire in Star Ballroom Dance Studio and killed five men and five women. He also injured at least nine others. Tran was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the van he used to flee the scene.

Following Monday’s shooting in Lousiville, President Joe Biden released a statement again calling for changes to federal firearm laws.

“How many more Americans must die before Republicans in Congress will act to protect our communities? It’s long past time that we require safe storage of firearms,” the president said in a statement. “Require background checks for all gun sales. Eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. We can and must do these things now.”

In all of 2022, there were eight shootings with four or more fatalities, according to a database compiled by Mother Jones.

NewsNation producer Steven Joachim contributed to this report.