Police in Kentucky responded to a mass shooting in Henderson Thursday night. The shooting happened at the Harbor House Christian Center at around 7:30.
Henderson city officials said that two people are dead and two others are injured.
Officials identified those who were killed as 67-year-old Steven Wathen and 44-year-old Chad Holmes.
The surviving victims were a 33-year-old man and a 41-year-old man.
On Friday, Henderson Police Department Chief Sean McKinney held a press conference to give an update on the situation.
According to the Henderson Police Department, officers were sent in response to an active shooter. HPD officials say the scene has been controlled.
Police identified the suspect as Kenneth Gibbs of Henderson. City officials say he was a resident at Harbor House.
Gibbs was booked into jail overnight. The website shows he’s facing two murder charges.
“As soon as I walk in and walk into the dorm area, I hear ‘pop, pop, pop’ and then me and another guy resident in here jumped out that side window right there and run,” one Harbor House resident said. “One of the guys that got shot, he came down here with us and I called 911 and they came.
Officers say they were able to quickly identify the suspect based on eyewitness statements.
HPD officials say they got a description of the vehicle Gibbs was driving.
They tell us they found the vehicle at Hayes Boat Ramp.
They say they found Gibbs walking in the area of Atkinson Park softball fields.
Officers say he was taken into custody without further incident. They say Gibbs was in possession of a handgun at the time of his arrest.
Henderson Deaconess Hospital was temporarily on lockdown in response to the shooting.
Police held a press conference later Thursday night to provide an update.
The mass shooting has some Henderson residents feeling on edge.
For Treva Onan, who lives just across the street, the anxiety is high after she watched an active shooter attack right in her front yard.
“I was working on my mom’s truck on a step stool and I heard it sounded like the whole gun thing… just plat, plat, plat, or that’s the sound that it seemed like it made, and then I turned my head and there was a guy kicking the window out and jumped out the window,” said Onan.
Onan says she saw the suspect get in his white Prius and take off.
She says she hid behind a bush because she was scared to run across her yard to get inside her home.
“I was right directly behind this rose bush just crunched down,” said Onan. “When I saw the guy jump I thought oh my god I got to get in the house. Of course my door was locked and then I just kind of stayed behind the bush for a little bit because I didn’t know whether to try to go back across there again if it was going to escalate outside.”
Onan says she had a sigh of relief once she knew Kenneth Gibbs was caught, but she worried for her neighbors across the street.
“I was just like oh my God I hope everyone’s alright, you know.”
Onan says she’s been happily living in Henderson for 22 years, but after the tragedy she says she’s feeling uncomfortable.
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