Five dead, including shooter, after mass shooting in northern Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — A mass shooting in northern Kentucky early Saturday left four people dead and several others injured, along with the gunman.

Boone County Coroner Missy Rittinger said the shooting occurred at a party in Florence around 3 a.m. Four people died at the scene.

She said that a chase ensued involving the person responsible for the shooting and that that person also died.

The four victims who died at the scene were identified by police as Shane Miller, 20, of Florence, Hayden Rybicki, 20, of Elsmere, Kentucky, Delaney Eary, 19, of Burlington, Kentucky, and Melissa Parrett, 44, who lived in the Florence home where the shooting occurred.

Three other people were taken to UC Medical Center after the shooting.

All were in stable condition Saturday afternoon and are expected to recover, according to Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery.

Florence police were called to a home on Ridgecrest Drive where shots were fired around 2:50 a.m., Mallery said in an update.

“When officers arrived, they still heard gunshots,” he said.

They found two people shot outside and “went inside to find the shooter,” Mallery said. Inside, they found more victims and administered first aid.

Mallery said partygoers identified the suspect as 20-year-old Chase Garvey of Florence and told police he fled the scene.

A Florence police officer and a Boone County sheriff’s deputy en route to the scene saw Garvey and tried to stop him, but he fled south on U.S. 42 toward Union and officers pursued him, Mallery said.

While driving down Hicks Pike, Garvey fell into a ditch and was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mallery said. He was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Florence Hospital.

Police have no motive for the shooting, Mallery said Saturday. He said Garvey was known to people at the party, but they believe he was not a guest himself.

“He just showed up,” Mallery said.

The partygoers were celebrating the 21st birthday of the son of the 44-year-old woman who died in the shooting, Mallery said.

Florence, an up-and-coming suburb of Cincinnati, is located about 70 miles north of Lexington.

Mallery was visibly emotional during Saturday’s press conference, which was broadcast on social media by Cincinnati television station WXIX.

“We’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” he said. “I know it’s like this across the country, but this is the first time we’ve had a mass shooting in Florence. So yes, it’s very emotional. My feelings go out to the victims, their families, the police officers who responded and everyone who was affected by this situation.”

While Florence police conducted the investigation on Ridgecrest Drive, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of the shooter’s accident in Union, he said.