05-22-2006, 01:13 PM
Victims attending Louisville visitation
One person was killed and four others were injured last night when multiple shots were fired into a group of people who had gathered outside A.D. Porter & Sons Funeral Home for a wake.
It was Louisville's fourth homicide in less than a week.
Metro Police Chief Robert White, who came to the scene, said two unidentified assailants had confronted a group gathering for the visitation about 7:15 p.m., when shots were fired outside the funeral home at 1300 W. Chestnut St. The attackers fled on foot.
Police said they were searching for two black males but had no further descriptions.
A black male -- who was not identified -- lay dead, covered in a sheet just outside the door of the funeral home for several hours while 40 to 50 people were held inside, awaiting police questioning.
Later in the evening, police escorted small groups of them to their cars. By 11:30, almost everyone needed for questioning had been allowed to leave the funeral home.
The others who were shot had non-life-threatening injuries and "escorted themselves" to University Hospital, White said.
The visitation was for Frank Sherley Jr., 70, who died Wednesday. He was a retired employee at Corhart Refractories, according to a Courier-Journal obituary. The visitation was from 6 to 9 p.m.
White described some of the people inside the funeral home as "hysterical."
Outside, pockets of people cried and hugged after learning of the shooting. Some, like Lillian Clayton, tried to contact those inside to find out who had been shot.
"It's just crazy," said Clayton, who at one point nearly broke down while being interviewed by reporters. "This has to stop."
At University Hospital last night, Ricky Goldsmith of Louisville said his 72-year-old mother, Anna Goldsmith of La Grange, was among the injured.
Goldsmith said his parents and other relatives were going to the visitation for her husband's cousin when shots rang out, and his mother was shot in the leg. She'd only recently had hip-replacement surgery, but Goldsmith said she is a strong woman and he was confident she would be OK.
"I know she's in the best care she can be in," he said. "We're just praying to God that everything works out." He said later, "She's the one who taught me to pray."
Waiting to get word in a hallway at the hospital, he said the shooting was disturbing.
"It's stupid," he said. "It's pretty sad that you can't go pay your respects in the city anymore."
Two others at University -- a man and a woman -- said they'd been at the scene but were too shaken up and scared to talk with a reporter.
Police roped off a large area around the funeral home, stopping people from going inside. A firetruck was sent to the scene later to provide light while police searched the area in front of A.D. Porter & Sons.
Lily Williams, who lives near the funeral home, said she was with her children and grandchildren at a neighboring park when she heard several gunshots.
"I told the kids to take off running because it was too close," she said. "You're not safe nowhere."
White called the shooting a "tragedy" and urged citizens to work with police to find the assailants. "We have got to get the entire community and police department to work together," he said.
Last night's killing was Louisville's 20th homicide of the year and the fourth recent one.
Early Saturday, Jesus Daniel Corona-Paredes, 22, was found in the parking lot of the Royal Garden Apartments off Third Street Road. He died of a gunshot wound in the head.
On Thursday, Earon Harper, 42, was found fatally shot in a house at 1784 Wilson Ave. Her 2-year-old daughter, Erica Hughes, also was shot and was critically injured.
And early Tuesday, Richard Lee Washington, 27, was fatally shot in the 4300 block of Tuscarora Way, in the Iroquois Homes housing complex. An arrest has been made in that case.
Last night's shooting was not the first in Louisville near a funeral home.
In June 2004, Wayne Lee Hurt, 23, was killed when shooting broke out near G.C. Williams Funeral Home, at 1935 W. Broadway, as people gathered for a wake for another shooting victim.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.../605220376
One person was killed and four others were injured last night when multiple shots were fired into a group of people who had gathered outside A.D. Porter & Sons Funeral Home for a wake.
It was Louisville's fourth homicide in less than a week.
Metro Police Chief Robert White, who came to the scene, said two unidentified assailants had confronted a group gathering for the visitation about 7:15 p.m., when shots were fired outside the funeral home at 1300 W. Chestnut St. The attackers fled on foot.
Police said they were searching for two black males but had no further descriptions.
A black male -- who was not identified -- lay dead, covered in a sheet just outside the door of the funeral home for several hours while 40 to 50 people were held inside, awaiting police questioning.
Later in the evening, police escorted small groups of them to their cars. By 11:30, almost everyone needed for questioning had been allowed to leave the funeral home.
The others who were shot had non-life-threatening injuries and "escorted themselves" to University Hospital, White said.
The visitation was for Frank Sherley Jr., 70, who died Wednesday. He was a retired employee at Corhart Refractories, according to a Courier-Journal obituary. The visitation was from 6 to 9 p.m.
White described some of the people inside the funeral home as "hysterical."
Outside, pockets of people cried and hugged after learning of the shooting. Some, like Lillian Clayton, tried to contact those inside to find out who had been shot.
"It's just crazy," said Clayton, who at one point nearly broke down while being interviewed by reporters. "This has to stop."
At University Hospital last night, Ricky Goldsmith of Louisville said his 72-year-old mother, Anna Goldsmith of La Grange, was among the injured.
Goldsmith said his parents and other relatives were going to the visitation for her husband's cousin when shots rang out, and his mother was shot in the leg. She'd only recently had hip-replacement surgery, but Goldsmith said she is a strong woman and he was confident she would be OK.
"I know she's in the best care she can be in," he said. "We're just praying to God that everything works out." He said later, "She's the one who taught me to pray."
Waiting to get word in a hallway at the hospital, he said the shooting was disturbing.
"It's stupid," he said. "It's pretty sad that you can't go pay your respects in the city anymore."
Two others at University -- a man and a woman -- said they'd been at the scene but were too shaken up and scared to talk with a reporter.
Police roped off a large area around the funeral home, stopping people from going inside. A firetruck was sent to the scene later to provide light while police searched the area in front of A.D. Porter & Sons.
Lily Williams, who lives near the funeral home, said she was with her children and grandchildren at a neighboring park when she heard several gunshots.
"I told the kids to take off running because it was too close," she said. "You're not safe nowhere."
White called the shooting a "tragedy" and urged citizens to work with police to find the assailants. "We have got to get the entire community and police department to work together," he said.
Last night's killing was Louisville's 20th homicide of the year and the fourth recent one.
Early Saturday, Jesus Daniel Corona-Paredes, 22, was found in the parking lot of the Royal Garden Apartments off Third Street Road. He died of a gunshot wound in the head.
On Thursday, Earon Harper, 42, was found fatally shot in a house at 1784 Wilson Ave. Her 2-year-old daughter, Erica Hughes, also was shot and was critically injured.
And early Tuesday, Richard Lee Washington, 27, was fatally shot in the 4300 block of Tuscarora Way, in the Iroquois Homes housing complex. An arrest has been made in that case.
Last night's shooting was not the first in Louisville near a funeral home.
In June 2004, Wayne Lee Hurt, 23, was killed when shooting broke out near G.C. Williams Funeral Home, at 1935 W. Broadway, as people gathered for a wake for another shooting victim.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.../605220376