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New FBI Louisville leader discusses Old National Bank manifesto, gang violence

Special Agent in Charge Michael Stansbury, appointed in September, revealed his top priorities including working to arrest gang leaders and tackling cyber crime.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The man now leading the FBI's Louisville Field Office says tackling gang violence is one of his top priorities.

On Thursday, Michael Stansbury spoke publicly for the first time since being appointed as FBI Louisville's new special agent in charge (SAC) in September.

He detailed plans to continue using tools like wiretaps and working with local law enforcement agencies to arrest and lock up gang leaders, the source of around 30 percent of Louisville's violence according to Mayor Craig Greenberg.

"In most major cities, that is what we're seeing across the nation. I think that number is probably pretty accurate to what it is," Stansbury told WHAS11 Thursday. "It does show the urgency that we need because it's not just the homicides, it's all the other underlying crimes that go with it. The carjackings, the robberies, the thefts -- it's just being able to walk down the street and feel safe."

Stansbury joined the FBI in 2000 and has worked in Texas, the Carolinas and in Buffalo, New York.

He said his other priorities include attacking cyber crime, elder fraud, and working to improve civil rights education among local law enforcement agencies.

The new SAC replaces Jodi Cohen, who transferred to the FBI's office in Boston.

Stansbury was also asked about LMPD's findings in the Old National Bank shooting investigation, a 64-page report that included handwritten notes from the gunman -- including some addressed to his parents. 

In them, he talked about his frustration with politicians and mocked what he called the 'lax gun laws' in Kentucky that allowed him to purchase the rifle he used in the shooting.

Stansbury says manifestos like the journal entries left by the shooter go to the FBI's behavioral analysis unit for review.

"We want to take that information, evaluate it, [and] compare it against other holdings that we have from other manifestos, and try to understand the shooter's mindset," he said. "What put them in that mindset, how did they get there, what were they thinking?"

When asked whether the FBI is still actively reviewing the manifesto left behind, the office chose not to comment.

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