LOUISVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation) — A fifth person has died from wounds following a shooting Monday at a downtown Louisville bank.
Police identified the suspect as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, a bank employee. Authorities previously said he was 23 years old.
Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police, said the shooter, who died after an exchange of gunfire with police, was livestreaming.
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.”
Gwinn-Villaroel said Sturgeon was using a rifle.
“The suspect shot at officers,” she said at a news conference. “We then returned fire and stopped that threat.”
Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64, were pronounced dead immediately after the shooting. A fifth person, Deana Eckert, 57, died Monday night at a local hospital.
“Let’s be clear about what this was,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “This was an evil act of targeted violence.”
Elliot, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, was one of his closest friends.
Not only did he help Beshear in his law career, and then in his political career — Elliot also gave the governor advice on being a dad.
“Acts of violence like this hurt,” Beshear said. “They tear at the fabric of who we are…Today, I’m hurt. And I’m hurting.”
Earlier in the day, Beshear said, he received incorrect information that another one of his friends was deceased, but it turned out he was not.
UofL Health confirmed to NewsNation that nine patients, including two police officers, were transported to their hospital.
One of the officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, was shot in the head and is in critical condition, Gwinn-Villaroel said.
Wilt, who had just come out of brain surgery at the time of the conference, was just sworn in last month, she added.
Police arrived to the scene Monday as gunshots were still being fired inside the Old National Bank, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said at a news conference.
Police first described what was happening as an “active aggressor” incident. The shooting happened in a building on East Main Street that houses the Old National Bank, near the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.
The FBI Louisville said its agents were also responding.
Officials urged the public to avoid the area.
Also in Louisville, one person was confirmed dead and another was injured Monday in an unrelated shooting at Jefferson Community Technical College.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
