Kentucky bank shooter identified as employee who was about to be fired

A gunman who livestreamed himself shooting up a bank and killing five has been identified as an employee who was about to be let go.

A man who killed five people during a mass shooting at a bank building in the US has been identified as an employee of the company who was about to be fired.

Nine people, including two police officers, were also injured during the incident at the Old National Bank in Kentucky’s largest city of Louisville, on Monday.

Officials later identified the suspect as Connor Sturgeon, 25, who also live streamed his murderous rampage before being killed at the scene.

According to CNN, Sturgeon was aware his position was about to be terminated, and he wrote a note to his family and a friend before heading to work as usual on Monday morning and opening fire during a staff meeting.

Police have identified 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon as the gunman in Monday morning's attack on an Old National Bank. Picture: Connor Sturgeon/LinkedIn

He also shared a string of eerie Instagram posts before the attack, with one stating: “They won’t listen to words or protests. Let’s see if they hear this”.

The killer’s LinkedIn account reveals he worked as a summer intern for the bank for three years before finally working as a commercial development professional in 2021 and a full-time associate and portfolio banker in 2022.

Chilling theory behind massacre

New details about Sturgeon’s background have started to emerge, alongside a chilling theory about what potentially drove his murderous rampage.

The killer graduated from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a master of science in finance, and was a star athlete in high school who allegedly suffered so many concussions he wore a helmet at basketball games, the Post reports.

An unnamed former classmate told The Daily Beast they wondered whether there was a connection between Sturgeon’s many concussions and the massacre, with the dangers of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) coming to light in recent years.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head injuries, and those with the condition are susceptible to aggression, mood swings, depression and paranoia.

US football star Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted of murder in 2015, was found to have had chronic CTE after he took his own life in jail in 2017.

Louisville mass shooter Connor Sturgeon was a former star high school athlete who suffered many concussions. Picture: Facebook/Lisa Sturgeon

Sturgeon’s father Todd is a high school history teacher and former boys basketball coach at the University of Indianapolis.

According to the Louisville Metro Police Department, Sturgeon entered the bank at 8.30am before it had opened and began shooting.

Victims’ fight for survival

Chilling details have started to emerge about how employees managed to escape the bloodshed, with one resident telling the New York Post workers fled the bank and sought shelter and safety at nearby businesses.

Those who were trapped inside the bank hid inside toilets and conference rooms.

“The bathrooms on our floor have keycode entry, so it was probably the safest place we could think of to hide,” bank worker Tammy Madigan told the Daily Beast.

“So the six of us went into the men’s room, turned off all the sound on our phones, tried to be as quiet as we could.”

Ms Madigan added that police evacuated the remaining workers out of the bank after the shooter’s death, with some glimpsing Sturgeon’s body on the first floor.

The four Louisville victims have been named as Josh Barrick, 40; Tommy Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 57; and Jim Tutt, 64.

A fifth victim, administrative officer Deanna Eckert, 57, later died in hospital more than twelve hours after the attack.

Crime scene tape cordons off a street as officers respond to an active shooter near the Old National Bank building in Louisville, Kentucky. Picture: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) reported there was an “active aggressor” in the city centre, near the Slugger Field stadium, shortly before 8.30am on Monday morning (10.30pm AEST).

He reportedly walked into the bank complex with a rifle and then streamed the shootings online.

“I will say this – the suspect was live streaming. And unfortunately, that’s tragic. To know that that incident was out there and captured,” LMPD interim chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said on Monday afternoon, US time.

Police are trying to get the gruesome footage taken down.

Police outside the bank branch. Picture: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

It’s the latest in a spate of mass shootings in the US which is no stranger to gun deaths.

Just a week ago six people died – including three children – when a shooter entered a school in Nashville, Tennessee.

‘Their blood’s on me’

Witnesses told TV network WHAS11 they saw a man with a “long assault rifle” fire several shots on the first floor of the bank building.

“He just started firing,” one witness said.

“I didn’t see his face. We were in the conference room. Whoever was next to me got shot, their blood’s on me.”

Responding officers opened fire on the gunman, according to witnesses.

Footage from the scene appeared to show one of the building’s windows blown out with glass scattered on the ground.

A police officer stands by at an active shooter incident near the Old National Bank building. Picture: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

A driver, only identified as Debbie, told local TV station WDRB she had stopped at the traffic lights just outside the bank when she spotted a man who appeared to be injured lying on the entrance steps. Then she heard gunfire.

“I didn’t know if it was going at the bank or out of the bank, I took off,” she said.

“When I turned, I saw that one of the windows in the bank had been blown out.

“They were coming from everywhere. The police were coming out of their cars with black rifles.”

She said multiple law enforcement vehicles immediately swarmed the scene.

Picture shows the area where a shooting took place in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Picture: Leandro Lozada/AFP

Old National Bank is a regional US financial company based in Chicago with branches mainly in the US midwest.

The bank’s CEO Jim Ryan was heading to Louisville on Monday afternoon.

“As we await more details, we are deploying employee assistance support and keeping everyone affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers,” he said in a statement.

Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, speaks during a news conference after a gunman opened fire killing several people. Picture: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

State Governor loses two friends in shooting

Of the nine people injured, three have now been discharged. However, one of the two injured police officers is in a critical condition, University of Louisville Hospital officials have told CNN.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at a press conference that two of his friends had been killed and another injured in the shooting.

“This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today, and I have another close friend that didn’t either”.

He said he hoped they would “make it through”.

– with the New York Post.