1 dead, 2 injured in a shooting outside a Kentucky courthouse, suspect is in a standoff with police

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — One person was fatally shot and two others were injured by a gunman outside a Kentucky courthouse, and police said the suspect had been located and was negotiating with police Monday afternoon.

The victim and the suspect, 46-year-old Christopher Elder, had attended a court hearing in Hardin County Monday morning before the shooting, Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson said at a media briefing. The two had been in a relationship, Thompson said.

The shooting occurred in a parking lot and Elder fled the scene afterward, Thompson said.

Elder’s vehicle was located on a highway by police in western Kentucky and he was pursued and stopped, Thompson said. The chief said police negotiators were speaking with Elder, who was still inside his car at the time of the briefing around noon EST.

Elizabethtown is about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) south of Louisville.

Thompson said two women and one man were shot. The two other victims were family members of the deceased, who had not been identified. The surviving shooting victims were hospitalized, he said.

Nearby schools were placed on a “soft lockdown,” after the shooting until police were able to determine it was an isolated incident, Thompson said.