(The Center Square) – Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told reporters the city will begin to re-enforce a more than 40-year-old ordinance that bans the wearing of masks in public places.
The move, which Greenberg revealed during his weekly press briefing, comes just days after a shooting that took place outside a high school football game. The alleged perpetrators were wearing surgical masks in the incident Sunday evening that injured two teenagers, one critically, at Pleasure Ridge Park High School in the southwestern part of the city.
Greenberg said the decision to bring back enforcing the ban passed in 1983 happened after he spoke with Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Paul Humphrey regarding steps the city could take while it continues to seek additional help from Frankfort and Washington regarding gun violence. The mask ban had been suspended after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to LMPD data, there have been 291 non-fatal criminal shootings pending investigation to date this year. That’s down 7% over the same period from 2023 and a 42% decline from the 501 the city reported through the same period in 2021. However, in late August, Louisville Public Media reported that murder cases were up on a year-over-year basis.
“This is not an isolated incident,” the mayor said. “LMPD officers see time and time again when assailants, when trigger pullers, are wearing masks to conceal their identity. Shooters are exploiting protections that were put in place during COVID.”
While running for office in 2022, Greenberg was the target of a shooting at his campaign office. He was not injured in the attack, although a bullet grazed his sweater. The assailant, Quintez Brown, pleaded guilty to federal charges in the case earlier this year. He’s scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
The mayor said his office will begin “immediately” to work with Metro Council members to amend the current ordinance to include exemptions for people who need to wear masks in public for health reasons. He added he has “an incredible sense of urgency” to combat gun violence in the community by any means available to the city.
“Let’s be clear, gun violence is a public health emergency that we are dealing with in our city,” Greenberg said. “Over 100 individuals already this year have been killed by gun violence. This is a public health emergency that we must deal with.”
