Moment of Silence for Louisville

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGARVEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because my community is hurting. We are hurting because on Monday, April 10, the day after Easter, the promise of the beautiful spring morning was shattered by gunfire, and Louisville joined the many communities across this country impacted by a senseless mass shooting.

Five innocent people were killed. Eight others were shot. If it weren't for the absolutely heroic actions of the Louisville Metro Police Department, we undoubtedly would have lost more lives.

LMPD Officers Wilt and Galloway raced headfirst into a barrage of bullets. Officer Galloway was injured. Officer Wilt took an AR-15 round to the head. He is still in critical condition. I have talked with his family. His mother has asked for our prayers. If you are so inclined, please do so.

We are here today not just to talk about how they died but to remember how they lived: Deana Eckert, Jim Tutt, Josh Barrick, Juliana Farmer, and my friend, Tommy Elliott.

There was more grief. Chea'von Moore was killed just moments after Monday's shooting in a separate shooting in downtown Louisville.

Saturday night, we had our second mass shooting of the week in Chickasaw Park, where two people were killed and six others injured.

We lost our friends. Our community is hurting. We lost people who loved deeply, cared deeply, and had people who cared about them, people who made our community and our lives better, taken from us too soon.

In the coming days and weeks, we will take up the fight on gun violence, but today, I ask everyone to join me in remembering those we lost, in hurting and healing with our community, and to offer a prayer for the families of those impacted, all of those impacted, including the officer currently fighting for his life.

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