Old National Bank shooter planned massacre, search warrant affidavit says
The man who opened fire at Old National Bank April 10, killing five people before he was fatally shot by police, planned the assault, according to messages recovered from the iPhone he used to livestream the mass shooting.
The content of the texts and emails, as well as a “manifesto” seized at Connor Sturgeon’s home, have not been disclosed. But an affavit filed in support of an application for a search warrant of the phone says they show Sturgeon planned the massacre.
The search warrant says the phone was found “affixed to his shirt” and used to stream the attack from his Instagram page.
The phone was seized after Sturgeon was shot and killed by Officer Cory Galloway.
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Jefferson District Judge Sara Nicholson signed a warrant to take the phone, and District Judge Amber Wolf signed search warrants issued to Apple, Google, Snapchat and AT&T for access to its contents, include phone, email and social media accounts.
Nicholson ordered the contents sealed for 30 days and applications were recently unsealed by the Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk’s Office.
Citing a continuing investigation, Louisville Metro Police declined to elaborate.
The affidavit for the warrants says that Sturgeon’s family told lead investigator Detective Kevin Carrillo that Sturgeon had attempted suicide about a year earlier and that his “mental health disorder may have played a part during this criminal act.”
The affidavit says that was supported by mental health texts to his girlfriends and in the manifesto found in his home in the Camp Taylor neighborhood.
Sturgeon, who worked at the bank, had turned 25 on Feb. 11.
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Sturgeon’s parents previously disclosed that he was being treated by a psychiatrist and counselor for depression and anxiety but that they saw no warning signs of the attack. They also said they did not know he had legally purchased the assault rifle used in the attack from a gun dealer six days earlier.
The search affidavit lists the names of the five people Sturgeon killed – Thomas Elliott, James Tutt Jr., Juliana Farmer, Joshua Barrick and Deana Eckert – and six who were injured and survived. They are James Evans, Julie Anderson, Dana Mitchell, Darrin McCauley, Dallas Schwartz and Officer Nickolas Wilt.
Wilt was shot in the head as he responded to the scene with Galloway, and the Louisville Metro Police Foundation announced Wednesday that he continues to make progress in his recovery. On May 17, the foundation said on Facebook that he was "the most awake he has been since his injury occurred."
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville bank shooting: Gunman planned massacre, affidavit says
