Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon livestreamed bank attack as he killed five and injured nine
Gunman was shot and killed by police as chief says she’s hopeful they will be able to get livestream footage removed
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The Louisville shooter has been identified as 25-year-old bank employee Connor Sturgeon.
Sturgeon has been identified as a white man who used a rifle to attack staff at the bank where he worked – Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
He went on his rampage after being notified that the bank where he had worked since 2021 was ending his employment, law enforcement sources told CNN.
Sturgeon also left a note for his parents and a friend telling them that he was going to attack the bank, the source added.
Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said that Sturgeon fired at responding officers, who returned fire to “stop that threat”. She confirmed that the suspect was shot and killed by police.
The chief said the shooter was live-streaming the incident on social media, and that police are hopeful that they will be able to have that footage removed.
The victims were identified as Tommy Elliott, 63, Jim Tutt, 64, Josh Barrick, 40, Julianna Farmer, 57, and Deanna Eckert, 57.
One of the responding officers was grazed on his left side while the other suffered a limited elbow injury. One of the officers was struck in the head – 26-year-old Nicholas Wilt, who graduated from the police academy on 31 March.
“I just swore him in,” Chief Gwinn-Villaroel said during the press briefing. While Officer Wilt has come out of brain surgery, he remains in critical condition.
“This will be a long complex investigation,” the chief added.
“For my LMPD officers who took it upon themselves to stop the threat so more lives would not be lost, thank you,” she said.
“Evil should not try to prevail” and we shouldn’t “let it take over our city,” she added.
The Mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, said Mr Elliott was “a very good friend of mine and of the governor’s”.
“This is really difficult for all of us across the city to process and accept. I ask that we respect the needs ... of the families of those who lost their lives today,” Mr Greenberg said during the briefing on Monday afternoon.
“I’m a survivor of a workplace shooting,” he noted, adding that trauma centres are being established for those in need.
“Our LMPD officers went into that building knowing they were risking their lives to save other lives and that’s exactly what they did,” he added.
Governor Andy Beshear said, “today is a tragic day ... across Kentucky. Today I’m hurt. And I’m hurting. And so many people are out there as well. Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become Governor, and gave me advice on being a good dad”.
Mr Beshear said Mr Elliott was “one of the people I talk to most in the world and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend”.
“The first battle was stopping that gunman, the second is doing everything we can to keep the wounded alive,” he added.
“What we need most right now, in a word, is love. Just love,” the governor said. “They’re going to need it. They’re going to need that love and we need love for each other. We argue so much in this country. So much anger. Love and compassion can lead us to a better place.”
“In the days to come, we'll talk about issues, but I think the thing that people get wrong after the most difficult of times and days, and as governor, I've had to see a lot of them, is that today ought to be focused on my friend and everybody else's friends and loved ones that are no longer with us,” Mr Beshear added. “My faith teaches me that while the body is mortal, the soul is eternal. And so I know that I will see Tommy again. And I know that all of these families and friends in this community will be reunited in a better place without violence. Without the senselessness and hurt that we feel today. We will get through this ... together. It's the only way.”
Mr Beshear went on to order the flags to fly at half-staff across the commonwealth of Kentucky until Friday evening.
Surgeon Dr Jason Smith from the University of Louisville said, “This morning we received nine patients. Three of which are in critical condition. They all required operative care. We released three and three others are still in hospital with non-life threatening injuries”.
Dr Smith added that “everyone who received surgery today is still sedated and no one is currently awake”.
“Really the next 24 hours for all involved who required an operation are going to be the critical time period for us to understand, really how well they're going to recover from this acute part of their overall care,” he added.
“They've got long roads ahead of them, but if we can get through 24 hours then we will take another 24 hours and we will keep doing that until they get out of the hospital,” he added.
Chief Gwinn-Villaroel said, “It rocks my world to have anybody be injured and losing their life. I have so much respect for the families because they were still present and very appreciative of what was done and how LMPD responded today. And they were actually embracing me as I was embracing them”.
The police chief noted that the shooter hadn’t previously engaged LMPD.