Connor Sturgeon, Louisville, Kentucky gunman was a hoop-star turned banker who had finished his masters and was a new hire, but he failed to fit in. Sent message to his parents that he was going to attack bank after recent firing.
The Louisville, Kentucky gunman and former school basketball star who shot dead five bank employees live-streamed the massacre and left a note to his parents saying he was going to carry out the attack following his firing, it has been revealed.
Connor Sturgeon, 23, stormed Old National Bank shortly after 8.30am Monday – around half an hour before the downtown branch opened to the public. It is there he ambushed fellow co-workers on the first floor at a conference room.
The victims were identified as Joshua Barrick, 40, Thomas Elliot, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, and James Tuft, 64, along with fifth victim who died in hospital, Deana Eckert, 57, a mother of two.
Along with the fatalities, nine others were injured, including two police officers responding to the shooting, one of whom remained in critical condition.
Officer Nickolas Wilt, 23, who just graduated from the police academy on March 31, was shot in the head during the shooting. He is still in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery, said Dr. Jason Smith, the University of Louisville Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer.
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‘Shoot up the bank’
Another officer was injured, but his name or additional information was not yet available.
Sturgeon carried out the attack with an AR-15-style assault rifle after earlier making a series of ominous Instagram post including one that said: ‘They won’t listen to words or protests. Let’s see if they hear this.’
Sturgeon was killed in the ensuing gun battle with officers upon police responding within three minutes of gunfire erupting at the downtown bank.
During the shooting it was reportedly overheard on police scanners that Sturgeon was ‘suicidal and texted a friend that he would ‘shoot up the bank.’
Police confirmed to CNN that Sturgeon had been informed he was going to be fired and that he had left his parents a note indicating he was going to attack the bank.
Sturgeon had a middle-class upbringing in Floyd’s Knob, Indiana, where at 6ft4ins, he was a star basketball player at Floyd Central High School.
His father Todd served as a coach and resigned from the school in 2022 stating he wanted to spend more time with his family.
How does a star athlete end up becoming a mass shooter?
Friends today said they would ‘never have expected’ Sturgeon capable of carrying out such an attack.
Another suggested that a series of concussions that he suffered in his school sporting career may have contributed to his mindset.
Sturgeon attended the University of Alabama before attending the Manderson Graduate School of Business at the same college.
He had been worker for Old National Bank as a Syndications Associate and Portfolio Banker since July last year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A former friend and teammate of Sturgeon’s from high school described the gunman as smart, popular and a star athlete in high school track, football and basketball.
He was the 2016 NTSPY winner for Boys Track Athlete of the Year and won the Evansville Regional crown in the 400-meter during the 2015 – 16 track season, going on to finish 20th in the state meet.
Friends shocked and in disbelief
Sturgeon was also named a National Merit Scholar in 2015.
The gunman earned his Master’s in Finance from the University of Alabama, which the university later confirmed, and hosted his own basketball podcast.
‘I know everyone always says this about shooters, but I truly would have never expected it to be him,’ the unnamed classmate told the Daily Beast.
Another former friend of the shooter’s also told CNN he never saw any red flags.
‘This is a total shock. He was a really good kid who came from a really good family,’ the friend said. ‘I can’t even say how much this doesn’t make sense, I can’t believe it.’
Sturgeon listed ‘he/him’ pronouns on his LinkedIn profile and recently praised the bank’s leadership program, writing he ‘can’t recommend this program enough.’
‘The opportunity to work with great folks in several areas to see where I fit was immensely beneficial,’ he said.
But there were issues.
A 2018 college essay posted to the website Course Hero by a user identified as University of Alabama student Connor Sturgeon, however, says the author had trouble fitting in at school.
Connor Sturgeon social media profiles had left ideology as Reddit account removed along with Instagram https://t.co/UG4EnBctBR… #ConnorSturgeon #Louisville bank #louisvillekentucky #Louisville shooting #Kentucky #OldNationalBank #Old National Bank shooting
— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) April 10, 2023
Red flags: trouble fitting in
‘My self-esteem has long been a problem for me,’ he wrote. ‘As a late bloomer, in middle and high school, I struggled to a certain extent to fit in, and this has given me a somewhat negative self-esteem image that persists today.
‘Making friends has never been especially easy, so I have more experience than most in operating alone.’
The author then went on to say that in college he had ‘begun to mature socially and am beginning to see improvement in this area’ and that he hoped to be ‘more self-aware and start becoming a ‘better’ person.’
Sturgeon had no previous criminal history, and his mother Lisa and younger brother Cameron were said to have approached police at the scene outside the bank to confirm his identity.
The mass shooting was America’s 146th in 2023 – more than the number of days this year – and came just weeks after the school shooting in Nashville,
