Louisville police release 911 calls made amid bank shooting: ‘We need somebody now’
In this screen grab taken from the body cam video of Louisville Metro Police Department Officer Nickolas Wilt, fellow Officer Cory Galloway approaches an active shooting situation, with Wilt following behind him, at Old National Bank, in Louisville, Ky., Monday, April 10, 2023. (Louisville Metro Police Department via AP)
The Louisville Police Department released a series of emergency calls made to 911 as the Monday shooting at the bank in Kentucky’s largest city was ongoing.
The department posted a video on its YouTube account on Wednesday including several witnesses to the shooting and the shooter’s mother. Five people were killed and at least eight others were wounded after 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon opened fire.
He was killed after police confronted him.
Body camera footage from officers responding to the incident was released on Tuesday and showed the shooter firing at the officers when they arrived.
The first person to call the shooting in to police was a woman who was working at another branch of the Old National Bank. She was on a video call with employees at the building where the shooting occurred.
She described the shooter as a white man with dark hair and carrying a rifle, and could be heard crying during the call.
A second caller said eight or nine people had been shot and admitted that she was hiding from the shooter in a closet.
Another caller who was inside the bank where the shooting happened described Sturgeon as an employee of the bank.
“Get here now. We need somebody now,” they said.
Another witness, who was also inside the bank, could be heard saying that people had been shot and ambulances were needed.
Sturgeon’s mother called police to report that her son might have a gun and was moving toward the bank. She said his roommate called her to share that he left a note indicating his intentions.
She said her son had “never hurt anyone” and was a “really good kid.” His mother also told police that they did not own any guns, so she does not know where he would have gotten one.
Police have said Sturgeon bought the AR-15 rifle he used in the shooting legally a week before the shooting.
“Please, he’s not violent. He’s never done anything,” the mother said.
She asked the dispatcher if she should go to the location where she thought Sturgeon would be, and the dispatcher told her to not go as a “situation” was ongoing there.
“You’ve had calls from other people, so he’s already there?” the mother asked.
The dispatcher confirmed that officials had received other calls and reiterated that she should not go to the bank before hanging up.