Louisville : On Monday morning in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, a 25-year-old bank employee opened fire at his place of business and livestreamed the incident, which left five people dead and eight more wounded.
According to interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the shooter was identified as Connor Sturgeon, a worker at Old National Bank. During a gunfight with police, he was murdered by police.
According to the chief, four of the victims—Joshua Barrick, 40; Juliana Farmer, 45; Tommy Elliott, 63; and James Tutt, 64—died early on Monday. Later that evening, authorities reported that Deana Eckert, 57, was the fifth victim to pass away.
A 26-year-old police officer who had just graduated from the police school 10 days prior and was shot in the head was among the nine other victims first listed by authorities as being hurt in the attack. According to a medical spokeswoman, five of those wounded suffered gunshot wounds. The death toll rose to five when police announced later Monday night that Eckert, one of the injured victims, had passed away.
Just after 8:30 a.m., or about 30 minutes before the Old National Bank on East Main Street opens to the public, according to authorities, a mass shooting started there. According to Rebecca Buchheit-Sims, a manager at the bank, it took place at a morning employee meeting, with some participants attending in person and others through video conference. She viewed the shooting deaths of her coworkers on her computer.
After three minutes of being alerted, Louisville officers arrived at the bank and discovered the gunman was still active, according to Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police. The shooter was killed by police during a gunfight, according to Gwinn-Villaroel.
Mayor Craig Greenberg expressed his gratitude for the “brave and gallant” first responders. Without a doubt, he claimed, their deeds “saved lives.”
A strong police presence cordoned off a major portion of the downtown roadway following the gunshot. In the Old National Bank’s entryway, shattered glass was all over the place.
The shooting is only the most recent outbreak of mass shootings, an exclusively American problem. Data from the Gun Violence Archive, which, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the gunman, shows that there have been at least 145 mass shootings in the US this year.
An AR-15-style rifle was the weapon used in the attack, a federal law enforcement source informed. According to the 2021 National Firearms Survey, the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle—the most popular sports weapon in Louisville the US—has been possessed by around 24.6 million people.
In many of the most horrific mass shootings in recent memory, including those that took place at the Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, an Aurora, Colorado, theatre, a San Bernardino, California, holiday party, and a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, the AR-15 and its offspring have been the weapon of choice. Only two weeks ago, a mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville resulted in the deaths of three adults and three 9-year-olds. The gunman used an AR-15-style rifle and two additional firearms.
The shooter was informed that he would be terminated, a source said.
According to a law enforcement source involved with the inquiry, Sturgeon had been employed by the bank for more than a year when he received notice that his employment would end.
The source claimed that Sturgeon informed his parents and a buddy in a note that he intended to shoot up the bank. According to the insider, it is unclear whether the message was viewed before or after the incident, whether it was written on paper or sent over email, or both.
Instagram removed the livestream of the shooting once it was done, but not right afterwards. The footage is reportedly in the hands of the police.
According to Sturgeon’s LinkedIn page, Louisville he worked as an intern at the bank for three successive summers between 2018 and 2020 before starting a full-time position there in June 2021.
According to a university spokesman, he received both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in finance from the University of Alabama in December 2020.
He and his family were well-known to a former high school classmate, who said that he never saw any “red flag or indicator that this might ever happen.”
The classmate, who requested anonymity and hasn’t interacted with Sturgeon in recent years, described Sturgeon as “a genuinely decent child from a really wonderful family.” “I can’t even express how absurd this is. I’m in disbelief.
An individual identifying as University of Alabama student Connor Sturgeon stated that he had difficulty fitting in at school in a 2018 college essay that was shared on the website CourseHero.
The article began, “My self-esteem has long been a concern for me.” “I struggled to some degree to fit in as a late bloomer in middle and high school, and this has given me a somewhat poor self-image that lingers now. I have more experience than most in being alone myself because making friends has never been very simple.
The author expressed his desire to Louisville “become more self-aware and start becoming a ‘better’ person,'” writing that he had “begun to develop socially at college and is beginning to notice change in this area.”
Louisville Police claim that a rookie cop was shot in the head.
The police chief said that 26-year-old rookie officer Nickolas Wilt was wounded in the head as he went towards the shooting. His situation is serious.
Only 10 days before to the incident, on March 31, Wilt had graduated from the police school.
Gov. Andy Beshear described Tommy Elliot, one of those murdered in the incident, as “one of my best friends” during a press conference on Monday. According to his LinkedIn profile, Elliott worked at the bank as a senior vice president.
Beshear claimed that Tommy Elliott Louisville “helped me grow my law profession, helped me become governor, and provided me advise on being a good dad.” “He was one of the persons I spoke to the most, and only very seldom did we discuss my job. He was a remarkable man.
“I saw people being murdered,” you say. witness reports
While Buchheit-Sims practically followed the bank’s morning meeting, she claimed that the shooting developed extremely swiftly.
Immediately after the meeting began, the shooter—an employee—began shooting up the conference room, according to Buchheit-Sims. “I saw people getting killed. There is no other way I can express that.
According to Caleb Goodlett, his wife, Louisville who works at Old National Bank, called him. She informed him that there was a gunman there and that she was confined inside a bank vault. When Goodlett dialled 911, the shooting had already been reported to the police.
He characterised the 8:30 a.m. phone conversation as upsetting, but said that he has since spoken to and visited his wife, who is OK.
On Monday morning, Hagan Curd was walking his dog on East Main Street when he noticed people racing in his general area. He recorded footage at the scene, and you can hear many gunshots.
Also Read : After a shooting in downtown Louisville, 6 people are dead and 8 more are hurt.
When more individuals stepped out of their cars and started rushing, Curd stated, “I saw people sprinting.” Louisville Then I heard cops shouting for everyone to get away from the bank because there was a gunman there.
The Old National Bank has more than 250 banking locations throughout the Midwest and has dual headquarters in Evansville, Indiana and Chicago. The bank’s management team is travelling to Louisville, the business said on Facebook.
According to Old National CEO Jim Ryan, “the safety of Old National Bank personnel and everyone we serve at our banking centre sites is vital.” “As we wait for additional information, we are providing staff aid support and sending our thoughts and prayers to everyone touched by this tragedy.”
According to the 2020 Census, the Louisville metro region, which is situated along Kentucky’s border with Indiana, was home to roughly 630,000 people. The minor league baseball stadium Louisville Slugger Field borders the 300 block of East Main Street to the east. Businesses in this area include a dentist’s office, a furniture store, and the Louisville Ballet.
Joseph Biden, the president, denounced the most recent mass massacre and urged Republicans in Congress to change the country’s gun regulations.
“Our country is in mourning once more following a senseless act of gun violence. Jill and I pray for the victims and everyone who were affected by today’s massacre. Too many People are losing their lives as a result of inactivity. When will Republicans in Congress do something to defend our neighbourhoods? In a tweet, Biden stated.