…Researched and contributed by Femi Taiwo.
Five victims of a mass shooting that took place in Louisville, Kentucky, have been identified for the first time.
Joshua Barrick, 40, Thomas Elliott, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, James Tutt, 64, and Deana Eckert, 57, were all shot by 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon at the Old National Bank on Monday.
Sturgeon used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to kill the five and wound eight others, while broadcasting his gun rampage on Instagram.
Sturgeon began his attack at around 8:30am, as employees at Old National Bank were meeting for a staff meeting before opening up.
Rebecca Buchheit-Sims, a manager at the bank, revealed that she had been attending the meeting via video link and watched the horrific incident unfolding on her computer screen.
Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside the bank and killed Sturgeon after he began firing at them.
Sturgeon, who had worked at the bank, complained that he wasn’t fitting in with other staff and had expected to be sacked. He had reportedly told a friend he was feeling suicidal and intended to “shoot up the bank”.
Sturgeon had made several Instagram posts suggesting he was planning some kind of dramatic act. He wrote a note to his parents and a friend indicating that he was going to open fire in the bank.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he had lost two “close friends” in the shooting, with a third friend being treated for their wounds in hospital.
He gave a tearful statement to reporters, saying, “This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today. And I have another close friend who didn’t either. And one who’s at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg described the incident as an “evil act of targeted violence.”
According to the latest figures from the US Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 145 mass shootings in the first 100 days of 2023.
Meanwhile, Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said police had asked Instagram to remove the footage of Sturgeon’s shooting rampage. She said, “I will say this, that the suspect was live streaming.
And unfortunately, that’s tragic. To know that that incident was out there and captured…”
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