Louisville shooter bought rifle legally a week ago, police say

The shooter who killed five people and critically wounded others at a bank in Louisville, Ky., on Monday had legally purchased the AR-15 rifle used in the massacre a week prior, police said. 

“We have learned that the suspect in this incident was a current employee with Old National Bank. We have also learned that he purchased the weapon used in this tragic incident … on April the fourth. He purchased the weapon legally from one of the local dealerships here in Louisville,” Louisville police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a press conference Tuesday.

A 25-year-old employee of the bank killed five people and wounded at least eight others, and then died after exchanging fire with police, police said.  

Two victims are still in the hospital being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and another is in stable condition in the ICU, officials said. A rookie officer who was shot in the head while responding to the shooting is still in critical condition — though Gwinn-Villaroel told local outlet WDRB-TV that his outlook is “looking hopeful.” 

Louisville police Officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, graduated from the police academy less than two weeks ago.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg (D) have also revealed that a close friend of theirs were among the victims. Greenberg said the deaths make for a total of 40 people shot to death in Louisville since the start of the year. 

Greenberg called for immediate short-term action to “end this gun violence epidemic now, so fewer people die on our streets and in our banks and in our schools and in our churches,” and urged leadership in Kentucky and Washington, D.C., to help.

“This isn’t about partisan politics. This is about life and death. This is about preventing strategies. You may think this will never happen to you. Never happen to any of your friends or loved ones. I used to think that. The sad truth is that now, no one in our city, no one in our state, no one in our country has that luxury anymore,” the mayor said. 

Greenberg also called for changes to state law that he said currently allow for the assault rifle that was recovered from the scene to be auctioned off and circulate back onto Kentucky streets. 

An investigation is ongoing as authorities probe the motive of the shooter they’ve identified as Connor Sturgeon, who they say livestreamed the attack on Instagram.

The victims were identified as Joshua Barrick, 40, James Tutt, 64, Thomas Elliot, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, and Deana Eckert, 57.