Bank gunman’s rifle will be auctioned off as police response video released
Police bodycam footage has shown the moment officers confronted a gunman who had opened fire at a Louisville bank – killing five colleagues.
Connor Sturgeon, 25, was shot dead by police following the attack at the Old National Bank in the Kentucky city on Monday morning.
Two patrol officers who responded to the shooting were among eight wounded, with one of the officers hit in the head by a bullet.
Sturgeon livestreamed the attack on social media.
Police bodycam video footage was released by officers on Tuesday.
In the footage, the officer wearing the camera can be heard saying he is approaching the bank from the east side.
Smashed glass can be seen on the pavement before gunshots are heard and the police officer appears to hit the ground.
He then runs down some steps back to street level before taking cover.
In other footage, an officer named Corey Galloway’s body camera shows him perched behind a stairway outside the building after rookie officer Nickolas Wilt was hit in the head by a bullet.
He waits and, as other officers arrive, more gunshots are heard and Officer Galloway fires – and then shouts to say he thinks the attacker is down.
Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said the video shows Mr Galloway “continues to stay in the fight and try to assess exactly where” the gunman is after suffering a minor gunshot wound while on the radio and “trying to get a good view of the” attacker.
Mr Humphrey walked reporters through edited footage and still photos.
One still image from surveillance video showed the gunman holding a rifle inside the building, surrounded by broken glass.
Police said he set up an ambush position to attack officers as they arrived.
Police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said they “unflinchingly” engaged Sturgeon to stop his rampage.
“The act of heroism can’t be overstated on yesterday. They did what they were called to do. They answered that call to protect and serve,” she told reporters.
Mr Wilt – who finished training less than two weeks ago – is critical but stable after being shot in the head, according to hospital officials.
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Ms Gwinn-Villaroel said the AR-15 style assault rifle used in the slaughter was legally purchased at a local dealership on 4 April.
Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg criticised state laws that mean the weapon will be sold at auction.
“The assault rifle that was used to murder five of our neighbours and shoot at police officers will one day be auctioned off,” he said.
“Think about that. That murder weapon will be back on the streets one day under Kentucky’s current law.”
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Police chief Ms Gwinn-Villaroel did not give an indication of the gunman’s motive, but said they had never dealt with him before.
Those killed have been named as Joshua Barrick, 40, Deana Eckert, 57, Thomas Elliot, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, and James Tutt, 64.
Dr Jason Smith, chief medical officer at University of Louisville Health, was emotional when he spoke to the media and said he was “weary” of having to treat so many gun victims.
“There’s only so many times you can walk into a room and tell someone they’re not coming home tomorrow,” he said.
“It just breaks your heart when you hear someone screaming ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’.'”
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Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said one of the dead, Thomas Elliot, was a close friend and had helped him “build him law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad”.
“He’s one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend,” he said.
The Louisville incident came two weeks after three children and three staff were killed in a mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee.
The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the US this year, comes just two weeks after a former pupil killed three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles to the south.
