(KMN) 8.14: City Violence - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, let's get it started. Welcome in Happy Thursday.
It is Kentucky and is morning News, Coffee and company
with you here on News Radio eight forty whas it's
five o six, and we'll have some fun today as
best we can. But obviously it feels right now as
we speak at five six on August the fourteenth, that

(00:22):
there seems to just be I guess, just more awareness
than ever as far as just how violent the city
of Louisville currently is, so right after the show ended yesterday.
In fact, I think it might have actually taken place
when we were on the air, but it didn't really
become news until at least I didn't see it until

(00:42):
around probably close.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
To ten o'clock.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
And that is the second school bus stop shooting at
the same place in a matter of five days, six days,
not even a full five days of being back to school,
and another school bus stop shooting, and this one took
the life of a woman, not a school kid, but
it certainly looks like she's probably not. She was probably

(01:06):
not much older than eighteen, or maybe that was how
old she was. But regardless, since then, there have been
two more shootings and two more people that have died.
Obviously the school bus stop situation is going to get
a little bit more attension just just because of the
nature of what went on. But I mean, last night,
eleven thirty pm Klondike neighborhood, there was a report of

(01:28):
a man that was shot and officers found him. He
was taken to UFL Hospital, where he later died. The
suspected shooter barricaded himself inside an apartment in the same
complex before eventually surrendering.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
No other injuries reported.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And then in Chickasaw around nine o'clock last night, police
were called to the forty one hundred block of West
Broadway near Cecial Avenue, where a woman had been shot
and taken to UFL Hospital, where she died. No suspects
have been identified and no arrest have been made at
this time. Of course, investigation is ongoing, and.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
This is not.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Super rare, right, I mean, clearly, this is something that
I mean, I don't want it's always tough Scott to
kind of word it to where you know, well, only
only one murder in the last twenty four hours, No,
a big deal. I don't I never want to come
off like that, and I don't think that I am however,
it's not uncommon for this to be news that you
hear about almost every day, but for just because of

(02:23):
I guess, the huge amount in a matter of six days.
I mean, let's go back to Thursday. You had the
initial school bus stop shooting where fifteen year old fired
off a bunch of rounds, and they made at a
second arrest yesterday another juvenile that was another suspect in
that case. And then of course what happened Friday with
the woman being abducted or at home invasion than kidnapped,

(02:43):
and right, I mean, all of this, it just seems like, again,
each each incident specifically is really not unfortunately that surprising,
but it's happening at such a rapid rate, and it
just I've never in my life felt and it's probably
more so because I'm paying attention a little more now
just given what it is that I do, But it
just feels like I've never been more Not not that

(03:03):
I'm scared to death. I'm not walking around like I
gotta look over my shoulder. Maybe I should, but it
just feels like, man, this place is really really in
a bad way right now.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, it was along those same lines Nick last night
my wife. Now we're getting ready to go to bed,
and she hollered at me from upstairs. She's like, did
you make sure you locked the back door? She does
that every night, And I said, yeah, I locked it.
She said, good because I don't want somebody coming in
the house with a machete. And at that point I
stopped and thought, I go, when did we get to
this point when my wife was bringing that up to
me before we went to bed. And to compound what

(03:31):
you're saying, the imagery, Yeah, the school bus shooting is
going to get a lot of attention because, let's be honest,
and we talked on this show last week about how
it's a great time for kids to get back to school,
how excited we.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Were, and lo and behold.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Now a parent has to be concerned, not just in
that neighborhood, but these can happen anywhere that when my
child are when somebody the.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Commination last week was.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Said, dude, that's what I'm saying. So now we have
to be concerned because we go we send our kids
to the bus stop, are they going to be safe?
Are we to the point where we have to send
kids in flack jackets to the bus stop. I say
that exaggerately, shure you, but you're spot on. And I
think the city is waking up this morning. We've been
down this road with the violence before, we'll go down

(04:13):
it again. But the city is definitely waking up in
a different mood. And I think you encapsulated that well,
and you're open.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, I think that.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
I mean this being at a school bus stop, I mean,
just think of the optics here.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
None of it's good.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
But within the fifth day of returning to school, there
have been two separate shootings where children sit and wait
for the bus to go to school. Right, I mean,
that's horrific.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
Right.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
And where this is, and again it's the same bus
stop essentially that it's happened at, is right near I
mean the actual where the actual shooting took place. It
was eleventh and Chestnut Street. But it's right there near
the near the YMCA that is there for children to
have a place to go to maybe get away from
the gun violence and just the overall violence that is

(04:59):
that is clearly a big issue in this city and
certainly in and around those areas. It's just I don't know,
it's it's I hate the feeling that you get when
it comes to just not really being that surprised about
these kind of things and not really knowing what is
what's gonna make it better. I mean, I don't I
don't think there's anything wrong with with Mary Greenberg continuing

(05:20):
to stress that despite all this, there has been some
progress made, because you need to give people a sign
that there has been at least some improvement. Let's just
keep you know, I try to find balance in the middle. One,
clearly there's issues and it's scary, but also try to
find some positivity that it can get fixed. But that
could be really hard at times.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
Well, you're right, and I've done some good work with
the very good folks at Catholic and Richmond Center, and
they doing wonderful things. And there are so many mentors
down there. They have after school programs, they have there's
people that want to help. There's people in the city
that are doing good things and they don't want this
violence either.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, And to your point, hopefully, with the nature of
just what this past week has been, if there's ever
been a time for somebody to maybe think, Okay, right,
I'm gonna get involved, not only because I want to help,
but man, I want to I don't want to live.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
In a city like this and raymore so.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
We'll continue to, of course keep you updated as best
we can as we roll along here. It is consec
can It's morning News, Coffee and company. We are with
you here up until nine o'clock, so stick with us
right here our news radio eight forty WHS. I couldn't
beat the shot clock there. I was attempting to mash
up three different clips and play with play it for
you is it's just kind of a it's the three

(06:27):
I guess local leaders that spoke yesterday, JCPS superintendent, who
I thought was very That's first time I've heard him
really at any point other than maybe a quick clip
in an interview. But obviously him being involved makes total sense.
Is he's the leader of the school system, and of
course this is certainly school system related. But obviously Mayor
Greenberg Chief Humphrey just kind of discussing from each of

(06:49):
their perspectives yesterday's.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Events and moving forward.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
So we don't even have a whole lot of time
to do that right now anyway, so maybe it works
out better, but.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
It must play this sound later as well. I'm looking
here just all the things I want to I'm trying
to figure out, I guess, how to balance the sound
we have as far as what is certainly worth hearing
and what is maybe not not as newsy because you
probably already have the information. But there was someone, a
woman that did confront Chief Humphrey yesterday at the press conference,

(07:24):
and I just I can't imagine what it would be
like to be in that environment and that be where
you live, that be your community, and just to feel
I mean, I wouldn't get I feel like I'm overstepping
even describing what that feeling would be like because I
don't know and I can't relate. So maybe I'm being

(07:47):
judgmental here, but I just I don't understand how anyone
could even put together any type of opinion that is
that this was in any way like the police department's fault.
I mean, I just can't. And that's not even to
say that they are that they're not worthy of legitimate
criticism at times. Trust me, that's not what I'm saying.
But I think to to to kind of you know,

(08:10):
bust bust his balls. For lack of a better way
to word it, I just thought that was it. It
gave me a sense of Okay, does anybody realize truly
like the root of this entire thing, And there's not
just one factor as to why we've become so violent,
but there are many. But if you can't determine, if
if you can't see it, and you don't even have

(08:31):
to really look that hard, that we have we have
in this city, there is there is a system in
place that is actually making us only more violent. And
it's scary. We don't incarcerate juveniles. They get held, then
they get let out pretty quickly if somebody can come
pick them up. Maybe that's not every instance, but that's

(08:53):
that that's that's really the majority of these teenagers that
that are committing these crimes that you know, end up
not necessarily murdering anybody, but they're living, they're living the
lifestyle and then you know, not really being held accountable
and then getting right back on the street. And then
some of these people are the ones that do in
fact end up getting charged with murder. So because we
don't incarcerate dangerous juveniles who have nobody parenting them, they're

(09:18):
clearly finding a place to fit in and be comfortable
within gangs, and we're giving free free labor essentially to
violent gangs, and they're having you know, it's giving these
young people, maybe for the first time in their life,
a place where they feel important, they feel accepted, and
it's just it's a cycle that without without a lot

(09:40):
of things. I don't know if it's going to change,
but you've got to find a way to get when
when it comes to getting dangerous, violent criminals off the street,
you typically don't think of children, but that's what's happening
here now. I think they're being encouraged at times maybe
to go to in this path by people that aren't children.
But you can't just act like, Okay, well yeah they're

(10:02):
they're not of age, so don't do it again. You learn, hope,
you learn your lesson, and you got to put some
silver bracelets on, got to take a ride, and and
you know, I mean like it's it's like, I don't
know how this gets fixed without something changing. And I
hate to be the guy that sounds like I've got
it all figured out, because I certainly don't. But I
think the cycle here is is pretty easy to see,

(10:24):
all right, tracking weather updates coming your way. Well, we'll
take a take a deep breath, here and get to
some lighter things on the sports side with Scott as well.
Stick around right here on New's ready to wait forty whs.
Thank you very much, John Shannon, five point thirty five
here Kentucky in this morning news, coffee and company with you.
And yesterday a rough one for the city of Louisville
when it comes to the violence. Not only did we

(10:46):
have another shooting that took place at a school bus
stop where this one this time there was there was
a fatality as a young woman was shot and killed.
It's I think five days six days maybe yeah, six
days after there was another shooting that unfortunately that fortunately
nobody was killed. But now there's been two arrests made
as another pair of juveniles have been charged with that

(11:09):
shooting just I guess shooting at each other, and of
course a lot of wanton endangerment charges because of that.
And then yesterday again a woman has has been shot
and killed and there was a fifteen year old arrested
not I'm sorry, not arrested, but taken into custody for
questioning it from Shawne High School. They did determine that
that kid was not the suspects, so they're now letting
us know to be aware. There's images out there that

(11:31):
don't show a whole lot, but doesn't take much, I guess,
for somebody to recognize any little thing about someone that
they may know. So got worse as the day went on,
because now you've got two more Louisville shootings that have
taken place since yesterday's shooting that took the life of
the woman at the school bus stop. One that took

(11:51):
place where a man was shot in the three thousand
block of Middale Lane that's in the Klondike area. And
then a woman was shot and killed and on forty
one hundred block West Broadway near ce Sal Avenue that's
in the Chickasaw area. And just an awful situation all
the way around.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
And it's not.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
Super surprising anymore when these things occur, but it just
feels like right now there's been more, I don't know,
awareness of it from just about everybody, and hopefully that
ends up sparking some type of path to positivity improvement.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
So I've got a few clips here that I've put together.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
This is just the Louisville leaders yesterday discussing the awful
situation We'll start with Chief Humphrey, then Mary Greenberg, and
then JCPS Superintendent doctor Earwood, who I thought was I mean,
the last thing he says in this montage of sound
is it's one of those things that unfortunately now is
needed to be said, but it used to be so obvious,

(12:54):
and that is you can't outsource the basic core responsibilities
of being a parent. And I kind of wonder now, though,
is that just lost to even say, I mean, does
that even clearly that I'm not even sure if the
fact that that needs to be said we may be
too far gone with certain people. That's just that's the
way I see it as a parent myself.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
But here you go.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
This is just the louisvill leaders yesterday reacting to the
awful situation.

Speaker 5 (13:19):
We do have a description of a young black male
dressed in a red hoodie and black sweatpants. We will
be putting out still images as soon as possible. Just
like in the shooting last week, we put out images
and we called on the community for help, and very
quickly we were able to identify and taking a shooter
from that incident. That is exactly what we need today

(13:39):
when we put out these images, We're asking for the
community's help and getting this person into custody and off
the street. Obviously, this person presents a clear and definitive
danger to the community, and we want to make sure
that he is taken into custody as soon as possible
and we can keep our family safe.

Speaker 4 (13:55):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (13:56):
And my final emotion that I've had all day is
I man, I'm angry at the individual who killed this
woman today. I'm angry at the two people who shot
at the same bus stop last week. I'm angry that
people still do this in twenty twenty five in our
city at bus stops, and that we keep having the
same conversations over and over again as a city, as

(14:19):
a state, that we keep hearing expressions of thoughts and
prayers for victims. Friends. Anger is not going to solve this.
As angry as I am, I know that we all
know that. So let's think about what we can do.
Where do we go from here? Because I firmly believe
that every person in this city, a city with hundreds

(14:43):
of thousands of good and loving and caring people, can
and want to do more.

Speaker 7 (14:48):
Leave The school system can provide education, we can provide resources,
we can provide support, but it is the home where
the foundation of responsibility, accountability, respect for life is built.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Parents must be parents.

Speaker 7 (15:06):
This means active engagement, knowing where your children are, what
are they doing, who are they with. It means teaching
them the value, the value of life, the consequences of
the actions, and the importance of resolving conflict without violence.
We cannot outsource the fundamental duties of raising children. We

(15:31):
cannot outsource that.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
I thought that was a given, but I guess not.
So we'll keep you updated as best we can. Hopefully
there's some progress made as far as identifying the suspect
yesterday and getting them off the streets, because they're still
out there and that's a scary thing, certainly for that community.
All right, let's get to another check of traffic and weather.
I will tell you this right now. I'm over the

(15:55):
heat and again they're telling me it's getting hotter in
the coming days. What I think it's more so just
the humidity. But man, it's brutal and I am ready
for it to be over. We'll get an update from
Matt melosavi wok why Bobby al Us tell us how
the roadways are looking, and then Rory O'Neil from me
C News is set to join us on the other
side right here on news radio eight forty whas. Thanks
for hanging out with us here this morning Coffee and Company,

(16:18):
Kentucky in its morning news on news Radio eight forty whas,
and we now welcome him in.

Speaker 2 (16:23):
He is Rory O'Neil of NBC News. Rory.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
President Trump and Vladimir Putin will be meeting on Friday
in Alaska, and of course they're hoping to end the
war in Ukraine. What can you tell us as far
as I know, you can't predict the future, but tell
us the temperature here as far as this meeting, and
I guess some potential outcomes.

Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah. Well, look, President Trump has even been trying to
lower the bar, lower expectations, and the ultimate goal I
think for Friday in Anchorage will be let's get to
a CEA spire. He even had a virtual meeting with
some European leaders, including President Zelenski, yesterday, and they said
sort of the same thing, just get to a seasfire.
Don't start saying we'll give you this piece of Ukraine

(17:05):
and that piece of Ukraine and you can control that
power plant and that river. They're like, don't get into
that stuff. Just get the seasfire and don't start negotiating
away parts of Ukraine unless Ukraine is actually at the table.
You know. Keep in mind, yes, the US is, you know,
we're providing the military hardware for this battle and a
lot of the cash that keeps Ukraine going. But this

(17:27):
is Russia invading Ukraine. Ukraine has to be at the
table here.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
So this is just me once again admitting some ignorance.
How long has this been going on?

Speaker 4 (17:39):
Well, the invasion, I mean that was what three and
a half years ago? That was launched? What three and
a half years ago, we've been at that. So this
has been obviously a long, bitter fight that you know,
has cost hundreds of thousands of lives by most estimates
on both sides, and the destruction to parts of Ukraine
have been absolutely it's been incredible. So that's why President

(18:03):
Trump has said, as he said many times, he believes
this war would not have started on his watch, but
he also says that he can bring an end to it.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
I'll tell you what the reason I asked that question
is because I wanted to say, yet, maybe it has
been that long, But I'm thinking, well, surely the invasion
didn't take place that long ago, but it did. And yeah,
here's still hoping that President Trump actually can do what
he's hoping to do, which is to put an end
to it. But Rory O'Neil is our guest joining us
here of NBC News. So we had some big news
in Louisville here this week. As Ford is really leaning

(18:32):
into the electric vehicle and obviously many of those electric
vehicles are going to be manufactured right here in Louisville, Kentucky.
But Dodge they're bringing back the gas guzzling muscle car as.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Ford has gone to the EV.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
A lot of uncertainty in the economy with tariffs, but
certainly the automotive industry is in limbo here as well.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
Well, right, you know the chairman of Ford who was
in Louisville this week making that big announcement, you know,
he really is eyeing by D. Most Americans haven't heard
of BYD that's a massive electric car maker and EV
maker in China. He's been incredibly impressed by these BYD
vehicles that come in super cheap. They're like twenty five grand, right,

(19:15):
and keep in mind they're all government subsidized. But the
fact that they can make a very good car for very,
very cheap has got the head of Ford very, very scared,
which is why he's really reinvigorating the whole assembly process,
changing how these cars will be put together. In Louisville
in particular, there's been a three billion dollar battery plant.
He's got a two billion dollar upgrade coming to the

(19:36):
Louisville plant. But now here comes Dodge saying they're going
to bring back the gas guzzling Dodge charger. Believe it
or not, they're still going to make the EV version,
but they think that's where the American consumer is. They
still want the roar of that engine, even though, by
the way, the electric is technically faster.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, I think you know, I guess if your Dodge,
you're thinking, okay, we're going to give you a wide
variety of about since here you can go electric or
you can again go gas guzzler. And I guess people
just think of that American muscle. And to your point,
they may think that it's faster. It may sound faster,
but it's actually not well.

Speaker 4 (20:11):
Right, and look, but it look that's expensive to have
two options going like that, to run two different plans
with two different assembly systems, you know, and then to
batteries not batteries or to keep the old internal combustion engine.
That's a major investment, so it's interesting to see if
there's still that muscle car audience out there to pay
for it.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
We shall see Rory. As always, we appreciate your time.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
You are the man, and I want to say I
really learned today that you say Louisville the correct way,
and some people in your industry don't so well.

Speaker 4 (20:39):
Thankfully, I've been able to talk to your station for
a while now, and I've been beaten around the head
in order to say a propertly. Craig Ferguson used to
do a great bit. I don't know if you watched
his talk show, but it makes fun alul Louville.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, I don't.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
I still don't know why we speak we say it
the way we do, but we do, and you say
it like us, so you're one of us.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Thank you, Rory.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
There you go, I'll take it all right, take care big,
All right, that's very on. Neil the NBC News, Quick
time out. We'll get a check of traffic and weather.
Scott's got some more sports updates for US as we
move along here on a Thursday morning on news Radio
eight forty WHS