Summary
On Monday, April 10th, around 8:40am EDT an employee of the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky entered the bank and opened fire, killing 5 and wounding 8 before being shot and killed by police.
Attack Overview
On Monday, April 10th, around 8:40am EDT an employee of the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky entered the bank. A co-worker greeted him with “good morning” prompting him to respond with “you need to get out of here.” As the employee turned to flee, the suspect attempted to shoot her but the gun’s safety was on and the weapon wasn’t loaded. The suspect disengaged the safety, loaded the gun, then shot the employee in the back as she fled. The suspect then walked to the first-floor conference room where executives and senior leadership were having a routine meeting where he then opened fire.
After shooting the people in the meeting, the gunman waited in the lobby area for police to arrive and hid in the shadows behind several sets of reflective glass doors where he could see out but wouldn’t be seen from outside. Once police arrived, officers quickly found the suspect and gunfire was exchanged, ending when the suspect was shot by an officer. Call logs and bodycam video footage indicate the incident lasted about 9 minutes.
Suspect
The suspect was identified as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, a current employee who had worked for Old National Bank for just over a year after interning for 3 summers. It was reported that Sturgeon
recently found out that he was going to be fired, but Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg stated that he doesn’t believe Sturgeon was ever given a notice of termination based on speaking with a bank official. Police confirmed they had no previous contact with Sturgeon prior to Monday’s incident.
Motive
Officials have confirmed that the victims were specifically targeted and known to Sturgeon but have not reported a motive for the attack.
The Shooter’s Social Media Activity and Last Communications
Sturgeon live-streamed the shooting on his Instagram. Meta quickly identified and removed the video and has reportedly taken further precautions to prevent the video from spreading further on Instagram or Facebook. Meta has also removed his account.
Previous Instagram posts included comments such as “I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it,” “I could burn this whole place down,” and most recent, before the livestream began, a post reading “They won’t listen to words or protests. Let’s see if they hear this.”
Sturgeon’s family’s attorney revealed that Sturgeon sent 1 last text to his family before he opened fire which read “I love you.” Sturgeon also wrote a note to his parents and friend outlining his attack. Prior to the shooting, Sturgeon called a friend and told them he was suicidal and was going to “kill everyone at the bank.”
Unrelated Shooting the Same Day
On the same day a second shooting, unrelated to the Old National Bank shooting, occurred at 11:00am EDT at the Jefferson Community & Technical College located just 1.5 miles from the Old National Bank which resulted in 1 dead and 1 hospitalized. Police suspect multiple suspects were involved. As of the publishing of this product, police have yet to identify or arrest any suspects. The school building was on lockdown for about 1 hour after the shooting occurred and, once police gave the “all clear,” remained closed the rest of Monday.
Additional Details
- Later that day a SWAT team entered and searched Sturgeon’s home in Camp Taylor and removed several bags of evidence. Police canvassed the neighborhood for doorbell camera footage of that morning. Officials have not commented on what they’ve found during these searches.
- Authorities confirmed that Sturgeon purchased the AR15 style semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting legally on April 4th from a Louisville retailer.
- Officials report that EMS were short-staffed so police officers offered to drive ambulances so the EMS workers could treat victims.
- Four of the victims died at the scene while a fifth died after arriving at the hospital. The victims appear to have been targeted and the deceased were all employees, including executives, identified as Thomas “Tommy” Elliott (63), Jim Tutt (64), Josh Barrick (40), Juliana Farmer (45), and Deana Eckert (57).
During the exchange of gunfire, Sturgeon shot a police officer in the head. The officer, who had graduated from the police academy on March 31st, was rushed to the hospital and remains in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive after receiving brain surgery. The officer who shot and killed Sturgeon was also struck and hospitalized in stable condition.
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