Church of Louisville mass shooting victim leans on faith following tragic loss
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) - Josh Barrick was 40 years old when he was killed inside Old National Bank in a mass shooting in downtown Louisville Monday morning.
His congregation at Holy Trinity Catholic Church came together later that day to comfort each other and remember a man who was an important part of their community.
Father Shayne Duvall spent the day with Barrick’s wife and two young children.
“They know what’s going on,” Duvall said. “They’re aware. They know that their dad has died, and they know someone did this and they know he’s in heaven. They said that to me. They were stronger than I expected them to be.”
The pastor said Barrick was one of the most active people in the congregation and one of the first people to welcome him to the church.
“I just spoke with him about two weeks ago on some future endeavors, and he was involved in this men’s group called CRHP, Christ Renews His Parrish,” Duvall said. “One of the spiritual leaders, very respected in this community, just on fire, and he and I met in my office just to talk about where’s Holy Trinity going in the next year or two and what can I do to help. The last thing he said to me was, ‘I’ll do whatever you need me to do.’ And that’s just, that’s the type of guy he was.”
Holy Trinity prayed for all the victims and the shooter as well.
Christ Church United Methodist also gave people a chance to light a candle and pray for the lives lost.
“We are horrified and we are heartbroken,” Senior Pastor Eric Bryant said. “We are angry and afraid and have all the feelings that anybody and everybody has right now. We wanted to provide a safe place for people to come.”
Churches around the world just finished celebrating Easter Sunday, one of the most important days of the year for Christians.
These faith leaders, both from Louisville, are pointing to that faith to help the community recover.
“It just felt like the right thing to do today, to come together for at least a couple of hours,” Bryant said.
“Every human life matters, and until we have a greater respect for all human life, this violence is not going to stop,” Duvall said. “We have to love and respect the human person.”
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