Newsman: A 25-year-old gunman opened fire at a bank in downtown Louisville on Monday, killing five people — including a close friend of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — and injuring nine others, authorities said. Parts of the attack were livestreamed, police said.
The interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said, The gunman was identified as Connor Sturgeon, 25, who police said was an employee of Old National Bank on East Main Street, where the gunfire erupted at 8:38 a.m. He was killed by police after a shootout with authorities.
Four of the victims, who died Monday morning, were identified as Joshua Barrick, 40; Juliana Farmer, 45; Tommy Elliott, 63; and James Tutt, 64, the chief said. Later that evening, police said a fifth victim – 57-year-old Deana Eckert – also died.
Authorities initially said nine others were injured in the attack, including a 26-year-old police officer who graduated from the police academy just 10 days ago and was shot in the head. Five of those injured had gunshot wounds, a hospital spokesperson said. Later Monday night, police said Eckert, one of the injured victims, had passed away, bringing the death toll to five.
Responding officers arrived in three minutes, exchanged gunfire with the gunman and killed him, Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters.
“The suspect shot at officers. We then returned fire and stopped that threat,” she said. “The suspect is deceased.”
Gwinn-Villaroel also confirmed that the shooter showed some of the deadly attack live on social media.
“The suspect was livestreaming, and unfortunately that’s tragic to know that that incident was out there and captured,” she said. “And so we’re hopeful that we can have that incident removed.”
Four victims were identified early Monday afternoon: Tommy Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; Jim Tutt, 64; and Josh Barrick, 40. And later Monday evening, police announced that Deana Eckert, 57, had died.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear got emotional saying he spoke regularly to Elliott and mourned his death.
“Today I’m hurting, and I know so many people are as well. We lost four children of God,” Beshear said.
“Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad. 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.”
JD Worley, the CEO of a medical device company across the street from Old National Bank, saw two police officers wounded. One still managed to take cover and return fire, while the other appeared to be “motionless” and was carried away by other officers, Worley recounted.
The rapid gunfire blew out the floor-to-ceiling glass at the front of the bank, Worley said.
“I mean, it felt like watching an action movie in real life,” Worley told “NBC Nightly News.” “But this is just something you see on the news often, but never could have fathomed I would ever see something like this happen, not only in my hometown, but right in front of my eyes.”
Nine people were taken to University of Louisville Hospital, three were listed in critical condition, and three were released, officials said.
The fast response of officers prevented more deaths and injuries, Louisville police said.
“It is clear from the officers’ response that they absolutely saved peoples’ lives,” Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said.
“This was a tragic event, but it was the heroic response of officers that made sure that no more people were more seriously injured than what happened.”
