April 10, 2023: Louisville, Kentucky shooting | CNN

April 10, 2023 At least 5 killed in bank shooting in Louisville, Kentucky

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Kentucky governor gets emotional after losing friend in bank shooting
02:01 - Source: CNN

What we covered here

  • At least five people were killed in a mass shooting Monday at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, police said.
  • The shooter, identified as a 25-year-old male, was employed at the bank, police said. The shooter’s “weapon of choice” was a rifle and he was shot and killed by law enforcement, police said.
  • The gunman live-streamed the attack on Instagram, police said. The video was subsequently taken down, according to the source.
  • A local hospital received nine patients following the shooting – two police officers and seven civilians, officials said. Three patients have been released and three are in critical condition, including a police officer, authorities added.
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Death toll from Louisville mass shooting climbs to 5 people, police say

The death toll in the Louisville bank shooting has risen to five, the Louisville Metro Police Department said late Monday.

Biden spoke to Kentucky governor about Louisville shooting

President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Monday evening about the shooting at a Louisville bank that left four people dead, the White House said.

In a statement earlier Monday, Biden called out Republicans for what he said is a lack of action to protect communities. He said Congress needs to act on things like requiring safe storage of guns and background checks.

Louisville mayor talks about losing a very close friend in mass shooting

Thomas Elliott.

A survivor of workplace gun violence himself, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he lost a very close friend, Thomas Elliot, in the Old National Bank shooting.

Greenberg said he was with Elliot’s wife at the hospital earlier Monday morning. Elliot, a senior vice president at the bank, was also a close friend of Gov. Andy Beshear.

The mayor said he also visited Louisville Metro Police Officer Nickolas Wilt at the University of Louisville hospital saying he “made it through surgery and he’s in serious condition at the hospital right now, but he is in great hands.” 

Greenberg said he handed Wilt his graduation diploma from the police academy just a week and a half ago.

"I witnessed people being murdered." Bank manager says she saw shooting during a virtual meeting

Rebecca Buchheit-Sims, a manager with Old National Bank, told CNN she virtually witnessed the shooting Monday through her computer during a Microsoft Teams meeting. 

“I’m just as much in shock and disbelief and was in disbelief as I watched it unravel,” she said of the incident, which she said “happened very quickly.” 

Buchheit-Sims said she didn’t directly work with the gunman, Connor Sturgeon, but knew him because his father was her son’s high school basketball coach, and her husband was an assistant coach. 

She described Sturgeon as someone with “just kind of a monotone personality.”

“His temperament is pretty low-key. I’ve never seen the kid get angry or upset about anything in public. He was pretty much just relaxed,” she said.

Buchheit-Sims said she didn’t know anything about Sturgeon having any grievances or previously making any threats. She recalled him as “extremely intelligent.” 

Here's what we know about the mass shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, bank on Monday

Police deploy at the scene of a shooting in downtown Louisville on Monday.

At least four people were killed and nine others were taken to the hospital after a gunman opened fire at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, Monday morning.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • Shooter: Police identified the gunman as Connor Sturgeon, 25, who was an employee at the bank. (At a news conference earlier Monday, police had described the shooter as a 23-year-old male. They amended his age Monday afternoon.) Sturgeon was notified that he was going to be fired, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, and wrote a note that indicated that he was going to shoot at the bank. He was killed by police shortly after opening fire, according to Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the department.
  • Response: Officers arrived at the bank three minutes after the first call of the shooting, Gwinn-Villaroel said, adding that the fast response time saved lives. She said the gunman used a rifle.
  • Investigation: Police did not have “any prior engagement” with the shooter, according to Gwinn-Villaroel. Investigators are working to learn more about the gunman. The shooting was live-streamed, Gwinn-Villaroel said, and that police are “hopeful” that they can get the footage taken offline.
  • Victims: The four people killed were identified as Tommy Elliott, 63, Jim Tutt, 64, Josh Barrick, 40, and Juliana Farmer, 45, according to updated information from the police department. Nine people were taken to the hospital, said Dr. Jason Smith, the chief medical officer at the University of Louisville Health. Three people have since been discharged, he said. Three others are in critical condition, including a recently graduated police officer who was shot in the head and had to have brain surgery, Gwinn-Villaroel said. One other officer was also injured.
  • Reaction: President Joe Biden condemned the latest mass shooting and called on Congress to act on gun reform. Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvery, who represents Louisville in Congress, and State Sen. Karen Berg, who also represents parts of the city, also called for action to address gun violence. Gov. Andy Beshear said one of the victims, Tommy Elliot, was “one of my closest friends” and that the community will also mourn and miss all of the other victims.

Louisville to set up assistance center for those affected by bank shooting, mayor says

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg speaks during a news conference in Louisville on Monday.

The city of Louisville will set up a family assistance center, in cooperation with the Red Cross, to help those affected by Monday’s bank shooting “deal with the trauma of this moment,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Monday afternoon. 

“To the survivors and the families, our entire city is here to wrap our arms around you,” Greenberg said, adding that he is a survivor of a workplace shooting himself.

In a statement Monday, Greenberg called the shooting at Old National Bank “another horrific tragedy” and asked for prayers for the “recovery of those who are receiving medical care, the families of those who lost a loved one, and those who are scared and heartbroken by what has happened this morning.”

“Our deepest gratitude to the heroic efforts of first responders, who arrived within minutes of being called, and who risked their lives to save others. We will continue to provide updates throughout the day,” Greenberg said.

CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.

White House won't say if Biden has exhausted all gun violence prevention measures

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday repeatedly called on Congress to take actions to address gun violence, refusing to explicitly say whether President Joe Biden has exhausted all legal efforts to further combat the issue through executive action. 

When asked during the White House press briefing if the president is at the end of his ability to do more on gun violence prevention, Jean-Pierre said, “So, there [are] actions that we have taken. The thing is the president cannot do it alone… there is a legislative process that needs to happen and Congress needs to act.” 

The comments came hours after four people were killed in a mass shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, bank. 

Specifically, she added, Biden cannot work without Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage for firearms, require background checks for all gun safeties and eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. 

Pressed on whether the president has done all he can, Jean-Pierre said, “We’re always going to find and figure out ways that we can take another step outside of all of the historic steps that this president has taken to announce another way to protect communities, but the president has done the work. Now we need Congress to act.” 

She said Biden has “done a historic amount of work recently” and pointed to a bipartisan bill he signed into law that year.

Jean-Pierre also clarified that the administration is continuing to call on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, even though that was not mentioned in the president’s recent statement in response to the Louisville shooting. 

She said it was “not a shift in strategy at all. We were just being mindful to the incoming information that was currently coming in from Louisville.” 

Shooter was notified he would be fired from bank and left a note before shooting, source says

Police deploy at the scene of a shooting in downtown Louisville on Monday.

Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon was notified that he was going to be terminated from Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. 

Sturgeon wrote a note for his parents and a friend indicating that he was going to shoot at the bank, the source said. 

Connor Sturgeon

It is not clear whether that note was on paper or emailed, or whether it was seen before the incident or after, according to the source. 

The shooting was live-streamed on Instagram and has been taken down. Police are in possession of the video, according to the source.

Former classmate of Louisville shooting suspect says no "red flag or signal that this could ever happen"

Connor Sturgeon, the 25-year-old identified by police as the gunman in Monday’s mass shooting in Louisville, had worked for more than a year at the bank where he allegedly shot 13 people, killing at least four.

At a news conference earlier Monday, police had described the shooter as a 23-year-old male. They amended his age to 25 later in the day.)

Sturgeon wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he interned at Old National Bank in Louisville for three consecutive summers between 2018 and 2020 before joining as a Commercial Development Professional in June 2021. He became a Syndications Associate and Portfolio Banker at the bank in April 2022, according to the profile.

Sturgeon graduated from the University of Alabama in December 2020, according to a spokesperson for the university. He participated in an accelerated master’s program, and earned both his bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in finance at the same time, the spokesperson, Shane Dorrill, said.

Earlier, Sturgeon played basketball and ran track for his high school in a Louisville suburb, and was named a semifinalist for a National Merit Scholarship in 2015, according to local news reports.

A former high school classmate of Sturgeon’s who knew him and his family well said he never saw any “sort of red flag or signal that this could ever happen.”

In a 2018 college essay posted to the website CourseHero, a user identified as a University of Alabama student named Connor Sturgeon wrote that he had had trouble fitting in at school.

“My self-esteem has long been a problem for me,” the essay read. “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-image that persists today. Making friends has never been especially easy, so I have more experience than most in operating alone.”

The author wrote 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’s father, Todd Sturgeon, was head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Indianapolis for 10 years and later coached basketball and taught US history at his son’s high school, according to news reports and his LinkedIn profile. A 2007 story published by Todd Sturgeon’s alma mater, DePauw University, quoted an Indianapolis Star article about his retirement from the University of Indianapolis that year, in which he said that watching his son Connor had inspired him to step down from the team.

“Todd Sturgeon said he was watching his son, Connor, at a basketball camp recently when he had a realization: Maybe he’d rather have more time to spend with his own sons than other people’s,” the article said.

Kentucky governor orders all flags to half-staff to honor victims of Louisville shooting

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during a news conference in Louisville on Monday.

All state flags throughout Kentucky have been ordered to fly at half-staff until Friday evening to honor the victims of the Louisville bank shooting, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday. 

Police said at least four people were killed and nine others were taken to the hospital. Three of them remain in critical condition, the hospital said.

Police did not have any "prior engagement" with bank shooter

The Louisville Police Department did not have “any prior engagement” with the man who is accused of killing at least four people at a bank Monday morning.

Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the department, said they are still working to learn more about the gunman.

The shooter was killed by police shortly after he opened fire, police said.

Gunman was shot and killed by police, interim chief says

Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the Louisville police department, speaks during a press conference on Monday in Louisville.

The gunman was shot and killed by police officers who were responding to the scene, according to Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department.

She said police got a call that there was a shooting at 8:35 a.m. ET and arrived at the bank three minutes later.

Gwinn-Villaroel said officers “responded in a timely, quick fashion, and we stopped the threat so that no additional loss of life could be taken.”

Police previously said the gunman was dead, but did not confirm if he was shot by police or a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police: Suspect was live streaming during shooting

The shooter was live streaming the attack on a Kentucky bank Monday morning, the interim chief of the Louisville police department said during a press conference.

Gwinn-Villaroel said that police are “hopeful” that they can get the footage taken offline.

She didn’t specify on what platform the suspect was live-streaming the shooting.

Police name the 4 people killed in Louisville bank shooting

Police released the names Monday of the four people who died following a mass shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, bank.

Here are the victims:

  • Tommy Elliott, 63
  • Jim Tutt, 64
  • Josh Barrick, 40
  • Juliana Farmer, 45

The post has been updated with the latest information from the police department on the victims’ ages.

Kentucky governor says that he lost "one of my closest friends" in the shooting

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during a press conference on Monday in Louisville.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that one of those killed in the mass shooting Monday morning in Louisville was “one of my closest friends.”

Beshear said that Tommy Elliott, “helped me build my law career. Help me become governor. Gave me advice on being a good dad.”

Elliott was the senior vice president of the bank, according to his LinkedIn.

The governor said he received incorrect information earlier when he stated in a news conference that a second friend had been killed.

The governor also called the other deceased victims of the shooting “amazing people” whose communities will “mourn” and “miss them.”

CNN’s Celina Tebor contributed reporting to this post

Recently graduated officer was shot in the head during confrontation with shooter, police say

A Louisville Metro Police Department officer was shot in the head during a confrontation with the gunman Monday morning, said Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the police department.

Nickolas Wilt, 26, was taken to the hospital and had brain surgery, she said during a news conference following the mass shooting that left four people dead. “He is in critical but stable condition,” she said.

Wilt was new to the department, having graduated from the police academy at the end of March, she said.

One other officer was also shot in the elbow, she said.

Police identify suspected Louisville bank shooter

Police identified the suspected shooter that killed at least four people at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, as Connor Sturgeon, a 25-year-old male.

He was employed at the bank, according to Louisville Metro Police Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.

The shooter’s “weapon of choice” was a rifle, Gwinn-Villaroel said.

The shooter died after officers exchanged gunfire with him, police added.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect age for the shooter based on information from police. He was 25.

NOW: Louisville officials give an update on deadly bank shooting

Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the Louisville police department, speaks during a press conference on Monday in Louisville.

Kentucky officials are giving an update on the death of at least four people in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville on Monday morning.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Gov. Andy Beshear are expected to give remarks.

Police have said they believe there was only one shooter and that the gunman was a former employee of the bank.

A local hospital received nine patients, two of them were police officers, according to officials. Three of them have been discharged, the hospital said.

Homeland secretary has been briefed on Louisiville shooting

Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been briefed on the shooting that killed at least four people in Louisville, Kentucky, according to DHS spokesperson Marsha Espinosa.

The secretary has been in contact with officials in the state, Espinosa said.

Other federal officials have also been briefed on the shooting, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden, the Justice Department and the White House said earlier.

READ MORE

Shooting in downtown Louisville leaves multiple casualties, authorities say

READ MORE

Shooting in downtown Louisville leaves multiple casualties, authorities say