Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon’s family say they’ll test his brain for CTE

The disbelieving family of Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon plans to have his brain tested for CTE, the judgment-altering brain disorder faced by many NFL players, seeking an answer to why he killed five colleagues last week during a workplace disaster.

Sturgeon, 25, opened fire on colleagues at the Old National Bank on April 10, killing five people before committing suicide in a shootout with police.

He had legally purchased his AR-15 rifle days earlier and had passed background checks despite seeking treatment for anxiety and depression.

Connor Sturgeon was hit in the head so many times that he had to wear a soft helmet during high school baseball games

Connor Sturgeon (far right) with his family. They say they plan to test his brain for CTE in an effort to understand why he snapped and killed five colleagues last week.

His family did not know what could have led him to commit such violence.

Now they say they will have his brain tested for CTE.

They fear he contracted the condition as a result of a high school basketball career where he was hit on the head so many times that he had to wear a soft helmet during games.

The most acute case of CTE on record for a person his age was that of Aaron Hernandez, who hanged himself in prison after being acquitted of double murder

Sturgeon suffered multiple concussions, but continued to play until he graduated.

His family previously said he had mental health problems but showed no signs of being capable of the violence he committed on the bench.

While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health issues that we were actively addressing as a family, there were never any warning signs or indications that he was capable of this shocking act.

“While we have many unanswered questions, we will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and do everything we can to help everyone understand why and how this happened,” the family said in a statement earlier this week.

In a frantic 911 call the morning of the shooting, his mother Lisa said the family had no idea he even had a gun.

“He’s never hurt anyone, he’s a really good kid… We don’t even have guns. I don’t know where he would have gotten a gun,’ she said.

Sturgeon allegedly wrote a note before the shooting complaining that he had been told he would lose his job at the bank.

Louisville gunman Connor Sturgeon at the Old National Bank on Monday, where he killed five colleagues before being shot dead by police

One of the prominent athletes to have suffered from CTE is Aaron Hernandez, a former Patriots player who was convicted and committed suicide in his prison cell in April 2017.

He was convicted of the double murder of two men when he hanged himself in his cell after smoking synthetic marijuana.

After his death, surgeons examined his brain and found that he had the most acute case of CTE they had ever seen in a person his age.

Iron Mike Webster, a Steelers player who became homeless before his death, also suffered from CTE.

Ken Stabler died of colon cancer, but his widow said after his death that he also had terrible headaches, disorientation and confusion, which he believed was a result of his many football injuries.