A Louisville, Kentucky, bank employee opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing five people and wounding at least nine others.
Police killed the shooter, identified as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon.
Two police officers were among the nine people wounded in the attack, and a close friend of Kentucky’s governor was among the five victims that lost their lives.
Authorities say police located the shooter right away when they arrived at the scene at Old National Bank and killed him in a gun battle, saving countless lives.
The police chief says the gunman livestreamed the attack. Louisville’s mayor called the shooting “an evil act of targeted violence.”
Law enforcement sources tell ABC News the shooter was recently given notice that he would be fired and that he left a note for his parents and friends, saying he planned to shoot up the bank.
“Within three minutes of being dispatched, officers arrived on scene and encountered the suspect almost immediately, still firing gunshots,” said Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Bank employees hid from the shooter by locking themselves in bathrooms; others hid in the vault.
The gunman opened fire in a conference room. One employee, Troy Haste, ran from that room. “He just started, he had a long assault rifle and he started, you hear the shots, just start firing,” explained Haste. “Whoever’s next to me got shot, and blood’s on me from it.”
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) lost a close friend in the shooting and became emotional during the press conference. “Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad,” he shared.
Beshear also referenced his faith during the news conference. “Now, this is hard; it’s really hard, the day after Easter,” he said. “Now Easter is about a rebirth, a better world, one where we’re all supposed to work together to get there, one that’s supposed to teach us love from a Savior that came.”
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The Louisville shooting is the 15th mass killing in the U.S. this year. It comes two weeks after a former student fatally shot three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
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