Louisville shooter left a note, was suicidal before killing 5 at bank: What we know about gunman, motive

A lone gunman who attacked the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, killing five and injuring eight others, left a note behind and told at least one person he was suicidal, officials said Tuesday.

The shooter, who police identified as Connor Sturgeon, 25, died in an exchange of gunfire with police, investigators said. Authorities said Sturgeon fired multiple times inside the building, and then shot at responding officers with a rifle before being killed.

The attack happened around 8:30 a.m. local time and police said Sturgeon livestreamed the shooting.

Authorities said Tuesday that he had legally purchased an AR-15 rifle from a local gun dealer a week ago.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg on Monday had called the rampage an "evil act of targeted violence."

What we know about the attacker

According to his LinkedIn profile, which was taken down after the shooting, Sturgeon was a summer intern at the bank starting in 2018, and graduated from the University of Alabama, where he got both bachelor's and master's degrees by the end of 2020.

The University of Alabama said Monday that Sturgeon attended UA from fall 2016 to December 2020. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and Business Administration – double major in finance and economics.

The university said he was in the Accelerated Master’s Program so he also earned an MS in Finance when he graduated in Dec. 2020.

He started working fulltime for Old National Bank in June 2021, and was most recently a syndications associate and portfolio banker, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Records show he attended Floyd Central High School in Indiana, just west of Louisville, where he played on the basketball team coached by his father.

His father, Todd Sturgeon, resigned from Floyd Central in 2022 saying he wanted to spend more time with Connor and a younger son.

MAPPING THE INCIDENT: Old National Bank shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, kills 5

What was the Louisville shooter's motive?

Authorities have not yet released specific information about the shooter's motive. They described him as a "lone gunman" who worked at the bank.

U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who spoke at a press conference Tuesday with city officials, said Sturgeon left a note behind and told at least one person he was suicidal.

Greenberg told reporters Tuesday he was not aware of Sturgeon being given any notice of potentially being fired ahead of the shooting.

Authorities said Sturgeon broadcast his attack on the internet, which has become relatively common. He livestreamed the shooting on Instagram Live, law enforcement said. His Instagram account was taken down after the shooting Monday morning.

"Unfortunately. That's tragic – to know that incident was out there and captured," said Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.

Self esteem long a problem

A former friend and teammate of Connor Sturgeon at Floyd Central High School told The Daily Beast this week that he was “smart, popular and a star athlete.”

He was named “Mr. Floyd Central” in 2016 as a senior.

But in a 2018 college essay at the University of Alabama, Sturgeon wrote, “My self-esteem has long been a problem for me” and 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.”

The essay was posted to a website called “CourseHero,” CNN and The Daily Beast reported, but it has since been taken down.

How common is workplace violence?

Of 192 public mass shooters in the U.S. since 1966, at least 58 were “workplace” shooters – about 30%, according to The Violence Project. "Today would be the 59th workplace shooter in our data," said James Densley, co-founder of the nonprofit research center.

The Violence Project defines a mass shooting in which four or more people are killed with firearms – excluding the shooter – in a single, public event not connected to an underlying crime like robbery.

100 DAYS INTO 2023: Louisville attack marks nation's 146th mass shooting and 15th mass killing

How did the shooter die?

Police say responding officers killed Sturgeon.

"The suspect shot at officers. We then returned fire and stopped that threat," said Gwinn-Villaroel. "The suspect is deceased."

Police said Sturgeon shot officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, in the head, critically injuring him. Wilt, who had joined the department on March 31 upon graduation from the police academy, underwent brain surgery and remains hospitalized.

"For my LMPD officers who took it upon themselves to not wait to assess everything, but just went in to stop the threat so that more lives would not be lost: Thank you," Gwinn-Villaroel said.

The chief said her department had no record of any prior contacts with Sturgeon.

"This will be a long, complex investigation involving local, state and our federal partners," she said.

What gun was the shooter carrying?

Authorities said Sturgeon attacked the bank with an AR-15 rifle he legally purchased on April 4 from a dealer in Louisville, Gwinn-Villaroel said.

A SWAT team entered the house in Camp Taylor on Monday afternoon and carried out bags of evidence. Police also canvassed the neighborhood seeking doorbell camera footage. Law enforcement have shared little thus far about what they found.

A SWAT team entered a small home Monday in the Camp Taylor neighborhood of Louisville where Sturgeon lived, according to public records.

They carried out bags of evidence and also canvassed the neighborhood seeking doorbell camera footage. Law enforcement have shared little thus far about what they found.

What connection does the bank have?

In an emotional press conference, Gov. Andy Beshear said he ran his 2015 campaign for attorney general from the bank building and knows many of the people who work there.

"I know virtually everyone in it. That's my bank," Beshear said, tearing up. "This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn't make it today. And I have another close friend who didn't either. And one who's at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through."

In a statement, bank officials did not address Sturgeon's employment but asked for the community's support for the victims.

"The safety of Old National Bank employees and everyone we serve in our banking center locations is paramount,” Old National CEO Jim Ryan said in the statement. “As we await more details, we are deploying employee assistance support and keeping everyone affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers."

'AN EVIL ACT': Louisville gunman was bank employee, livestreamed shooting that killed 5. Live updates.

Who were the victims?

Gwinn-Villaroel said the five deceased victims were Jim Tutt Jr., 64, Tommy Elliott, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, Deana Eckert, 57, and Josh Barrick, 40.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, and Ken Roberts, Tuscaloosa News, and Sam Upshaw and Joe Gerth, Louisville Courier-Journal, members of the USA TODAY Network

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Connor Sturgeon broadcast attack at Louisville bank. What we know