Darcy Costello | Courier Journal

Marty Pearl, Special to the Courier Journal

A day after his chief equity officer's father and a woman were shot to death at a Louisville Kroger, Mayor Greg Fischer gave an impassioned call for state and federal officials to stop pretending they're "helpless" with regard to gun reform.

In a statement to reporters on Thursday, Fischer said people with the power to make changes are placing a higher value on politics than on the lives of Americans when they act like nothing can be done to prevent gun violence.

"People are getting shot at a grocery store, a school, outside a church. Can't we all agree that that is unacceptable?" Fischer said. "There are ways to make our country safer and still respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. This idea that it's all or nothing is a false choice. And Americans are dying everyday because of it."

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Matt Stone, Courier Journal

A shooting Wednesday at a Kroger grocery store in a busy Jeffersontown shopping center left two people dead, a suspect in custody and police searching for a motive. The man police believe to be responsible, Gregory Bush, 51, faces two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment.

Fischer confirmed at the briefing that the father of Kellie Watson, a longtime aide, was one of the victims, calling the act of violence "especially painful" because it hit close to home. Watson's father, Maurice E. Stallard, 69, was identified by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office on Thursday.

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Kroger shooting Louisville: Photos from Jeffersontown Kroger

Vicki Lee Jones, 67, was the shooter's second victim. Both victims were from Louisville and died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the coroner's office.

On Thursday, Fischer said he wouldn't offer comments on the shooter's motive. But he emphatically stated that Louisville is "one city, one proudly diverse and welcoming city" with one shared future.

"Our city and our future have no room for anyone who looks at their fellow human beings with hate or discrimination," Fischer said.

When it comes to violence prevention, Fischer said he's angry because "it seems like none of these murders and massacres hit close enough" for state or federal officials to take action. At the city level, he said, there's only so much that can be done.

He referred to the city's violence prevention programs, saying that they're working and the administration is working to do more. But the hard fact, he said, is that guns fall under the jurisdiction of state and federal governments — where many leaders pretend there's nothing to be done.

"That doesn't sound like the United States of America to me. We're the greatest, most powerful, most resourceful country in the world. Why do we pretend that we're helpless?" Fischer said. "America is never helpless. America mobilizes. We take on big problems and we get them done."

He offered the words of Muhammad Ali as inspiration on the possibility of coming together, before calling on Louisville residents to demand change from state and federal officials.

"... Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

More of the Courier Journal's coverage of the shooting at a Louisville Kroger:

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.

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Kroger shooting suspect Gregory Bush's arraignment