Shortly after confirming the attack, the police said the shooter had been killed, without giving further details. Reuters reported that it was not clear whether the five dead included the shooter, who was described by police as either a current or former employee of the bank.
Louisville Metro Police Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters that police were still trying to determine whether the shooter shot himself or was shot.
Police said they responded within minutes to reports of an attacker at around 8:30 am (1230 GMT) at a branch of the Old National Bank near Slugger Field in downtown.
At least two police officers were among the eight injured. Two of the injured, one of whom was in critical condition, were in hospital.
“We will come together as a community to work to prevent the continuation of horrific gun violence here and around the state,” Craig Greenberg, the mayor of the city of 625,000, told reporters at a news briefing.
Close to tears, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he knew the victims in the attack.
“I have a very close friend who didn’t make it through today, and one who’s in the hospital and I’m hoping he’ll make it,” he said at the press conference.
Mass shootings have been frequent in the United States. So far this year, the nation has witnessed 146 mass shootings — using the definition of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter — according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group.
In one of the most recent high-profile incidents, three nine-year-old students and three staff members were killed by a former student at a school in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27.
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