Louisville bank manager says she saw the mass shooting unfold on a Microsoft Teams meeting
An Old National Bank executive witnessed her colleagues being killed live during a Microsoft Teams session, when their Louisville office was attacked Monday morning.
Five people were killed when bank employee Connor Sturgeon brought an AR-15 rifle to his workplace and began firing at his senior colleagues. Nine others were injured, including two police officers, one of whom had only been with the force for 10 days.
Sturgeon was shot and killed by officers at the Old National Bank.
told Rebecca Buchheit-Sims CNN: ‘I saw how people were killed. I don’t know how else to say that.’
Another colleague, Troy Haste, was in the room when Sturgeon, 25, opened fire. he survived, but was spattered in the blood of his colleagues as he left the bank.
It later emerged that Haste and Sturgeon were already acquaintances, having been photographed together in September at what appeared to be a construction site where bank employees could volunteer.
Rebecca Buchheit-Sims was at a Microsoft Teams meeting Monday morning when Connor Sturgeon burst in and opened fire, killing five of her colleagues
Connor Sturgeon, left, is seen with Troy Haste, right, in September 2022
βHe just started firing,β said Troy Haste, an Old National Bank employee
βWe have a break room. I went in, closed the door for a second, and then I looked around as I opened the door to see where he was, and I saw he was still firing,β Haste said.
Connor Sturgeon, 25, was identified as the shooter at the Old National Bank on Monday
A clearly shaken Haste told local news outlets about the ordeal following the shooting.
βHe just started firing. I haven’t seen his face. We were in the conference room. The one sitting next to me was shot, their blood is on me.
βHe’s just started firing. He had a long assault rifle,β Haste said, still shaking.
βWe have a break room. I went in, closed the door for a second and then I looked around as I opened the door to see where he was, and I saw him still firing.β
The employee of the Old National Bank explained how the whole situation unfolded on the first floor of the building, while the group was in a meeting.
Another man with Haste said he thought the shooting was construction.
But another person said to him, “Run, there’s a shooter there.”
Buchheit-Sims, meanwhile, said her meeting had already begun when Sturgeon entered the room.
“I’m just in shock and was in disbelief when I saw it unravel,” she said, adding that it “happened really quickly.”
Buchheit-Sims did not work with Sturgeon, but knew him because his father was her son’s high school basketball coach.
Her husband was an assistant coach.
She described Sturgeon as having “just a bit of a monotonous personality.”
His temperament is quite subdued. I’ve never seen the boy get angry or upset about anything in public. He was pretty much just relaxed,β she said.
She said she knew nothing about threats or problems, but said Sturgeon was “exceedingly intelligent.”
He live-streamed the massacre and left a note for his parents saying he would carry out the attack after firing from the couch, it has been revealed.
Sturgeon was an employee of the bank, but was recently told he was going to be fired
Sturgeon is pictured here with his father, Todd, mother, Lisa, and his younger brother, Cameron
The shooting occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville
Sturgeon stormed the Old National Bank shortly after 8:30 a.m. Monday β about half an hour before the downtown branch opened to the public.
The victims were Thomas Elliott, 63, a close friend of the Kentucky governor, and four other bank employees: Joshua Barrick, 40, Juliana Farmer, 45, James Tutt, 64, and Deana Eckert, 57.
Sturgeon carried out the attack with an AR-15 style assault rifle after previously posting a series of ominous Instagram posts, including one that read, “They don’t listen to words or protests. Let’s see if they hear this.’
He was shot dead by police after injuring nine other victims, including two police officers, one of whom had only been on the job for ten days.
Rookie police officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, was also shot in the head and is in critical condition. He started work on March 31.
Interim police chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel said: “The next few days are important and very critical for Nickolas’s recovery,” adding that he had successfully survived brain surgery at the University of Louisville Hospital.
Mayor Craig Greenberg said he presented Wilt with his police academy graduation certificate less than two weeks ago.
“Our city and so many across the country are praying for the strength and healing of Agent Wilt,” Greenberg tweeted. “His heroic actions exemplify the best of law enforcement.”
The second injured officer has not been named.
Three victims have since been released from hospital.
During the shooting, it was reportedly overheard on police scanners that Sturgeon was “suicidal” and texted a friend that he was going to “shoot the bank.”
Blood was seen on the steps outside the Old National Bank in Louisville Monday morning
Thomas Elliott, 63, one of Governor Andy Beshear’s “closest” friends, died Monday morning in the mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky
Joshua Barrick, 40, a vice president of commercial real estate at the bank, was also killed by the lone gunman, as was Juliana Farmer (right)
Deana Eckert, 57 (L), an executive administrative assistant at the bank, was pronounced dead Monday night. Officer Nickolas Wilt (right), 26, was shot in the head and is in critical condition
Sturgeon grew up in Indiana and played on the Floyd Central High School basketball team
The mass shooting was America’s 146th in 2023 – more than the number of days this year – and came just weeks after the school shooting in Nashville, three hours from Louisville.
Joe Biden later blamed Republicans for not addressing the gun violence epidemic.
“How many Americans have to die before Republicans in Congress will take action to protect our communities?” said Biden.
βIt’s been a long time since we had to store firearms safely. Background check required for all gun sales. Eliminate arms manufacturers’ immunity from liability.
“We can and must do these things now.”
Sturgeon had a middle class upbringing in Floyds Knobs, Indiana where at 6ft4ins he was a star basketball player at Floyd Central High School.
His father Todd served as coach and resigned from the school in 2022, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Friends said they “never expected” Sturgeon to be able to pull off such an attack.
Another suggested that a series of concussions he suffered during his school sports career may have contributed to his mentality.
The 25-year-old attended the University of Alabama before attending the Manderson Graduate School of Business at the same university.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he had been working for Old National Bank since July last year as a Syndications Associate and Portfolio Banker.