Louisville shooting : Gunman to be tested for CTE as victims’ funerals begin today
Connor Sturgeon will be tested posthumously for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), his father says
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The gunman behind the Louisville bank shooting will be tested posthumously for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), his father has said.
Connor Sturgeon’s family have said he suffered from “mental health challenges” but showed no warning signs of what he planned to do before he carried out the shooting at the Old National Bank on Monday.
Funeral arrangements were released on Thursday for most of the five bank employees killed in the massacre, with the first taking place for Tommy Elliott on Friday.
Chilling 911 calls have also been released of terrified bank employees reporting the shooting.
In one of the calls, a woman speaks in hushed tones as she says she is hiding in a closet from the gunman. Multiple gunshots ring out in the background as the dispatcher urges her to “stay quiet”.
Sturgeon’s mother also called 911 saying that her son “currently has a gun and is heading toward” the bank.
Connor Sturgeon was being treated for depression and anxiety, says family friend
Louisville bank shooter Connor Sturgeon was being treated for depression and anxiety at the time of Monday’s massacre, according to his family.
Peter Palmer, a friend of the shooter’s father and the family’s spokesperson, told NBC News that he was seeing a counsellor.
“His family was working with him and through it,” he said.
“That’s about the extent of what they’re comfortable sharing at this point.”
He added that he is unaware of any medication he may have been taking.
WATCH: Bodycam shows police confronting and fatally shooting Louisville bank shooter
Kentucky governor describes having to call friend’s wife to reveal he had been killed in mass shooting
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said he was the one to call his friend’s family to let them know about his death in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville.
A 25-year-old gunman opened fire at the Old National Bank on Monday morning, killing five people and injuring eight others while live streaming the attack. The shooter, identified as bank employee Connor Sturgeon, entered the bank at around 8.30am armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
He went on a shooting rampage inside the first-floor conference room before exchanging gunfire with responding police officers. The gunman was eventually shot dead by the police.
Read the full story:
Kentucky governor describes calling his friend’s family to reveal he had been killed
‘Calling your friend’s wife who is also your friend to tell her that her husband is gone is among the hardest things I’ve ever done’
Louisville mayor says ‘officers are outgunned by assailants’
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has spoken out after the release of the police body cam footage of the Kentucky bank shooting that left five dead.
Appearing on NBC News NOW, Mr Greenberg spoke to host Tom Llamas, who said, “When you look at that bodycam video, one of the things that stood out to me is that Officer Wilt, the officer who unfortunately took a bullet to the head, comes out with a handgun and he’s facing off against a shooter who has an AR-15. What did that make you think when you saw that?”
“Oh, it’s infuriating. If you care about our police officers, it’s time for action. Here we have officers that are outgunned by assailants,” Mr Greenberg said. “It’s time for action, so we’ve got to do a lot here in Kentucky. I’m going to be fighting in the halls of Washington, anywhere at the federal or [the] state level to give us the local autonomy.”
He added: “We in Louisville want to deal with our gun violence epidemic in the way that the people of Louisville want. Right now, we can’t do that. Our Kentucky laws would make me a criminal if I sought to implement, as mayor, more initiatives to reduce the amount of gun violence, to crack down on illegal guns. I would be the criminal. That’s insane.”
Louisville police released body cam footage from the shooting on Tuesday. The footage starts with a video from 26-year-old officer Nicholas Wilt, who had graduated from the police academy only ten days before the shooting.
Read more:
Louisville mayor says ‘officers are outgunned by assailants’
‘Our Kentucky laws would make me a criminal if I sought to implement, as mayor, more initiatives to reduce the amount of gun violence,’ Craig Greenberg says
Who is Connor Sturgeon, the Louisville gunman? Basketball star, bank worker, mass shooter
He was a high school basketball star whose father coached the team.
He was a 25-year-old University of Alabama graduate who was pursuing a career in banking in Louisville.
But now he will be remembered as America’s latest mass shooter.
On Monday, Connor Sturgeon stormed the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, where he worked armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
Inside, he gunned down five of his colleagues in the first-floor conference room.
Officers responded to the scene within minutes and exchanged gunfire with the gunman, who was ultimately shot dead.
Four victims died on the scene, before a fifth died in hospital later on Monday.
The victims, all executives at the bank, have been identified as: Tommy Elliott, 63, Jim Tutt, 64, Josh Barrick, 40, Juliana Farmer, 57, and Deana Eckert, 57.
Here’s everything we know about the suspect:
Who is Connor Sturgeon, the suspect in the Louisville bank shooting?
Connor Sturgeon, 25, was an employee at Old National Bank in downtown, Louisville. On Monday, he killed five coworkers in a horror attack. Rachel Sharp, Megan Sheets and Graig Graziosi report
911 calls: Mother told of son’s plans by his roommate
The mother of the shooter called 911, saying that she was made aware by her son’s roommate that he was planning to shoot up the bank.
She called to warn the police of Monday’s shooting, saying that Sturgeon was armed and on his way to the bank, but the dispatcher said the shooting had already started by the time the mother’s call came in.
“We don’t even own guns. I don’t know where he would’ve gotten a gun,” the mother told the dispatcher. “I don’t know what to do. I need your help.”
“He has a gun, and he’s heading toward the Old National,” she said, adding that she wasn’t sure what Sturgeon was planning and that she had been made aware of what he was doing by his roommate.
“I’m so sorry. I’m getting details secondhand. I’m learning it now. Oh, lord,” she said.
As the call went on, the mother grew increasingly distraught.
“He’s never hurt anyone. He’s a really good kid,” she told the dispatcher. “He’s nonviolent. He’s never done anything.”
During the call, which lasts three minutes and 23 seconds, the mother asked if she should go to the bank.
“I don’t want you to go to the location,” the dispatcher responded. “We have a situation that’s going on down there right now. We have already had calls from other people.”
How many mass shootings have there been in 2023?
The latest high-profile shooting in the United States happened Monday in Louisville, Kentucky, when at least four people were killed at a downtown bank.
The shooting in downtown Louisville is the 15th mass killing of the year in the U.S. in which four or more people were killed other than the perpetrator, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. That is the most during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009, when 16 incidents had occurred by April 10.
Other notable episodes of gun violence in the past year:
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Three students and three adults were killed inside The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27. The suspect, a former student, was killed by police.
HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA
A farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings in a case of workplace violence at two Northern California mushroom farms on Jan. 23. A suspect is facing charges.
MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA
A 72-year-old man killed 11 and wounded nine in a shooting at a Lunar New Year dance in Monterey Park on Jan. 21. The suspect later died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA
The manager at a Walmart in Chesapeake killed six and wounded six during an employee meeting on Nov. 22, 2022. Police say the suspect shot himself.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Five people were killed and 17 wounded when a 22-year-old gunman allegedly opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle inside a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs on Nov. 19. The suspect, who was subdued by patrons, is awaiting trial.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
A 15-year-old boy allegedly killed five people and injured two more in a shooting in Raleigh on Oct. 13. The suspect eluded officers for hours before he was cornered in a home and arrested.
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS
Six people were killed and at least 30 wounded when a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on an Independence Day parade on July 4 in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. A suspect is awaiting trial.
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE
Three people died and 14 people were injured in a shooting June 5 in front of a restaurant. Three people have been arrested.
PHILADELPHIA
Three people died and 11 others were injured June 4 on a Philadelphia busy block during a melee that began with a fistfight and was followed by random gunfire. Two men are in custody in two of the deaths; other people have also been arrested in connection with the melee.
TULSA, OKLAHOMA
A gunman killed his surgeon and three other people at a medical office June 1. The gunman killed himself as police arrived.
UVALDE, TEXAS
An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School on May 24 in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. More than 15 other people were wounded. Law enforcement killed the attacker.
CHICAGO
A shooting killed two people and injured seven others on May 19 just blocks from the Magnificent Mile shopping district. Two men have been charged.
LAGUNA WOODS, CALIFORNIA
One person was killed and five others injured May 15 after a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners in Southern California. Authorities have said the gunman was motivated by hatred for Taiwan. He has been charged with murder and other counts.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
A white gunman opened fire May 14 at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, killing 10 people and injuring others. He has been charged with federal hate crimes that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.