Residents and nonprofit leaders are examining a long-troubled entrance gate after two 20-year-old mothers were killed Sunday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Security concerns at Family Scholar House are receiving renewed attention after two young mothers were shot and killed at the Louisville housing community, where residents and the nonprofit’s leadership say an entrance gate had not been working properly before the deadly attack.
Louisville Metro Police and University of Louisville police responded at about 1:44 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, to the 400 block of Reg Smith Circle near UofL’s Belknap Campus. Officers found two women with gunshot wounds. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office later identified them as Iyanna Warr and Trinity Durham, both 20. No arrest or known suspect had been announced by Monday.
In the aftermath, several residents raised concerns about access to the property and the condition of an entrance gate. Cathe Dykstra, president and CEO of Family, the parent organization of Family Scholar House, said a request to repair the gate had been made in February. She said difficulties obtaining parts for the roughly 18-year-old gate had delayed the work.
The condition of the gate has become one focus of residents’ concerns, but authorities have not said that it played a role in the shooting. Police have not publicly identified how the shooter entered or left the property, and investigators have not announced a motive. There also has been no public finding that a security failure caused or contributed to the deaths.
Dykstra said the property has surveillance cameras, as does the company involved in managing the site. Those cameras could provide information useful to investigators, though police have not publicly described what footage has been recovered or whether video has helped identify a suspect.
Family Scholar House provides housing and support for student parents and other families working toward degrees, professional credentials and financial stability. The Reg Smith Circle property sits near the University of Louisville but is not a university residence hall. UofL officials said neither Warr nor Durham was a university student or employee.
Both women were mothers and participants in the Family Scholar House program. Each had one child. One lived at the complex, while the other was waiting for a housing opening. People who knew the women said they were working toward careers in fields connected to health and science.
The shooting left residents questioning how security is managed at a community serving people who may already have faced housing instability, poverty or domestic violence. Family Scholar House officials have said they are working to support residents after the killings and review what can be done to help people at the property feel safe.
Beacon, the property management company identified in local reports as responsible for work involving the gate, had not publicly responded to media requests for comment by Monday evening. That left unresolved questions about the repair timeline, the availability of replacement parts and when the entrance could be restored to normal operation.
Police have released little about the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Investigators have not publicly identified a suspect, described a possible motive or said whether the victims were specifically targeted. Officials also have not linked the killings to domestic violence or any other theory, and the investigation remained active.
As police continue examining the double homicide, the broken gate and other security concerns remain separate from the unanswered question of who killed Warr and Durham. Authorities had not announced an arrest by Monday, and no official determination had been made about whether conditions at the property contributed to the shooting.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 25, 2026.