A birthday celebration in Florence, Kentucky, took a tragic turn in the wee hours of Saturday, July 6, 2024, when a mass shooting occurred, resulting in four deaths and three people critically injured. The gunman, identified as 21-year-old Chase Garvey, intruded on the party and began firing before fleeing the scene and subsequently taking his own life.
The fatal incident happened shortly before 2:50 a.m. at a residence on Ridgecrest Drive, where 44-year-old Melissa Parrett was hosting a 21st birthday event for her son. The victims, including Parrett herself, were Shane Miller, 20, Hayden Rybicki, 20, and Delaney Eary, 19. Three other attendees were severely injured and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, their condition remains critical yet stable.
Upon arrival at the scene, officers were met with a chilling sight, as detailed by Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery. “When officers arrived, they still heard shots being fired. They saw multiple victims and were told the suspect had fled,” Mallery disclosed.
Garvey’s criminal record included convictions for first-degree rape and second-degree sodomy in 2021. Some attendees of the birthday event recognized him, although he was not on the guest list. The reason behind his violent actions remains undetermined.
Witnesses at the scene provided law enforcement with a description of Garvey and his vehicle, leading to a swift police response. Officers found Garvey’s car near an intersection in the vicinity, initiating a pursuit. The chase concluded over four miles from the original location when Garvey crashed his car into a ditch and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Friends and family of the victims are left dealing with the tragic aftermath. Hayden Rybicki’s closest friend, Jackson Hemingway, expressed his sorrow, saying, “Hayden always put a smile on people’s faces and loved to go snowboarding. He was someone everyone loved to be around.”
Neighbors remembered party host Melissa Parrett as a caring woman and devoted mother, as noted in their comments.
This tragic incident has left the city of Florence, Kentucky, which has never seen such violence, in a state of shock. “We never dealt with this before,” Chief Mallery confirmed. “This is the first time we had a mass shooting in Florence, so yeah, it’s very emotional. We train on this, hoping it would never happen, but unfortunately, we’ve been touched like so many departments and cities,” Mallery reflected on the emotional impact on the community and first responders.
This is the third mass shooting in the Greater Cincinnati area this year and the 20th in the United States in 2024.
The motive behind Garvey’s violent actions remains a mystery, and police are urging anyone with information to step forward. The city of Florence is left grappling with the grief of four lost lives and supporting the survivors as they recover from this violent incident.
