Louisville shooter lawfully purchased gun days before, targeted people he knew, police say

Louisville, Ky.: Police said Tuesday that the bank employee who opened fire at his Louisville job used a gun he lawfully purchased a week before to target individuals he knew.

At a press conference, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said that 25-year-old bank employee Connor Sturgeon purchased the AR-15 assault gun from a nearby dealer on 4 April.

Prior to being shot and killed by police on Monday, Sturgeon is believed to have used the gun to kill five people, including a close friend of the governor of Kentucky. Eight more victims suffered injuries.

“We do know this was targeted. He knew those individuals, of course, because he worked there,” Gwinn-Villaroel said, but didn’t give an indication of a motive behind the shooting.

Officers’ body camera video will be released Tuesday afternoon, the chief said.

Gwinn-Villaroel praised her officers’ response as they “unflinchingly” engaged the shooter at Old National Bank and stopped him from killing more people.

“The act of heroism can’t be overstated on yesterday. They did what they were called to do. They answered that call to protect and serve,” she told WDRB-TV.

Officer Nickolas Wilt, who had graduated from training just 10 days earlier, was still in critical but stable condition Tuesday after being shot in the head, according to University of Louisville Hospital Chief Medical Officer Jason Smith.

Two of the four wounded still in the hospital had injuries that were not life-threatening, Smith said.

The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south. That state’s governor and his wife also had friends killed in that shooting.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends in the shooting.

“Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad,” said Beshear, his voice shaking with emotion. “He’s one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend.”

Also killed in the shooting were Josh Barrick, Jim Tutt, Juliana Farmer and Deana Eckert, police said.

“There are no words to adequately describe the sadness and devastation that our Old National family is experiencing as we grieve the tragic loss of our team members and pray for the recovery of all those who were injured,” Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan said in a statement.

Louisville Mayor Craig urged unity as the community processes its grief.

“We’re all feeling shaken by this, and scared and angry and a lot of other things too. It’s important that we come together as a community to process this tragedy in particular but not just this tragedy because the reality is that we have already lost 40 people to gun violence in Louisville this year,” Greenberg said.

An interfaith vigil will be held Wednesday evening and invited people to come to grieve and pray.

“This vigil will be to acknowledge the wounds, physical and emotional, that gun violence leaves behind,” he said.

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