Kentucky police are in a standoff with a gunman after he allegedly shot three people, including his romantic partner, outside of a courthouse in an “ambush-type” attack before fleeing the scene.
Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson identified the suspect as Christopher Elder, 46, who cops said opened fire on the victims — killing one and injuring two others — in the parking lot of the Hardin County Justice Center Monday morning.
Thompson said Elder was involved in an emergency protective order hearing being held with the victim who died, and that the other two victims were relatives of the deceased.
He did not specify how the victims — two female and one male — were related, or how they connected to Elder, except that he was “dating” the victim he killed.
“This was a domestic-related incident. There was a hearing at the courthouse this morning stemming from previous incidents, and we believe it was isolated to the individuals involved,” Thompson told reporters, saying Elder was “part of that hearing.”
Two children belonging to the deceased victim were on the scene of the shooting, but were not injured and are safe with family members, Thompson said.
“It’s terribly tragic because unfortunately the victim lost a life, we have two other people who were shot. Surviving family members are going to be without loved ones,” Thompson said, adding that the horrific act of violence highlights the high-stress environment of family court where emotions can run dangerously high.
“At family court there’s always emotion involved when you have cases like this, and we have them daily. It just takes one incident like this to understand how volatile it can be,” he said.
Thompson said he couldn’t reveal the identities or conditions of the victims at this time pending family notification.
Elizabethtown is a city of about 31,000 located 45 miles south of Louisville.
