Updated at 10:45 am 4/11/2023
Multiple news outlets confirm the prime suspect in this week’s bank shooting in Louisville, Kentucky was a graduate of the business school on the Tuscaloosa campus. UA confirmed the grad’s name is Connor Sturgeon. The attack killed five people and injured eight others. The Kentucky shooter who opened fire Monday in an incident that police say was live streamed online.
Louisville’s Chief of Police Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel says the gunman used a rifle in the shooting, which left three people in critical condition, the chief said. One of those was a Louisville officer who had just graduated from the police academy. The chief confirmed said Monday afternoon that the shooter livestreamed the attack but didn't provide any additional details.
"The suspect was livestreaming, and, unfortunately, that's tragic to know that incident was out there and captured. We're hopeful that we can have that footage removed," Gwinn-Villaroel said. Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, said in a statement that it had “quickly removed the livestream of this tragic incident this morning.”
The University of Alabama said Connor Sturgeon attended UA from fall 2016 to December 2020. Sturgeon was in a special accelerated program to earn bachelor's and master's degrees simultaneously. He graduated with degrees in commerce and business administration and a master's in finance, the university said.
People who previously worked at the bank said they were shocked by Sturgeon's deadly actions Monday. "I mean, to be honest, I can’t even wrap my head around that Connor would do this," said Kevin Luoma, 42, who worked at Old National Bank for a year and a half and left in May 2022. “I talked to him every day. I literally talked to him every day. I knew him, not outside of work, but I knew him at work. And he was a good worker. And we talked about sports all the time."
Luoma said that when they worked together, the gunman had recently completed an internship at the bank and was hired at the bank. "He had his whole life ahead of him. Now, I don’t know what happened between then and now, but something had to have happened that would affect his life," he said.
“How is that even possible? … This is not the Connor that I know."
Editor's note— Earlier reports on the Connor Sturgeon connection listed his name at UA as being the same as the gunman. A Linkedin link used to corroborate Sturgeon's identity was broken. APR waited for further confirmation.