'It's disappointing': Louisville mayor, police chief absent from community meeting on gun violence

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields were noticeably absent from a community meeting Monday night to address the rising gun violence.

Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together hosted its annual action assembly. This year it was called "Victory Over Violence: CLOUT's Strategies to Bring Shalom to Our City'.

Each year the group gathers community members to find out what are the biggest issues affecting the city. Member Larry Grossman said there were 22 research meetings held prior to Monday's assembly. He said crime came up consistently.

"Violence and gun violence, in particular, is out of hand in our city. It continues to escalate. Our numbers were way up last year. Our numbers are now up 14-15% from a year ago," Grossman said.

According to organizers, there were 1,200 community members present Monday night both in-person and virtually.

Fischer and Shields were both invited, but neither showed.