UPDATE: Louisville Shooter Was a Univ. of Alabama Graduate; Police Say Gun Bought Legally

A memorial for Joshua Barrick is on display, late Monday, April 10, 2023, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Louisville, Ky. A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at the bank Monday morning, killing Barrick and multiple others, including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor, while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said. (AP Photo/Claire Galofaro)

By DYLAN LOVAN and REBECCA REYNOLDS Associated Press

The shooter who opened fire at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, was a graduate of the University of Alabama. Police say he legally bought the gun from a local dealership a week ago.

Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference that bank employee Connor Sturgeon, 25, bought the gun on April 4 and targeted certain people in the attack.

Armed with the rifle, Sturgeon killed five people — including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor — while livestreaming the attack Monday on Instagram, authorities said. Another eight people were wounded.

WAKA 8 has confirmed through the University of Alabama that Sturgeon attended the university from the fall of 2016 to December 2020. The university says he graduated with a BS in Commerce and Business Administration and a MS in Finance. He was part of the Accelerated Master’s Program so he received both degrees at the same time in December 2020.

Sturgeon spent three summers working as an intern at the bank before becoming a full-time employee in 2021, CBS News has confirmed.

At approximately 8:30 on Monday morning, gunfire erupted at an Old National Bank branch in downtown Louisville, which was not yet open. CBS News reports that within three minutes of receiving 911 calls, police rushed to the scene.

Police say Sturgeon was armed with a semi-automatic, AR-15-style weapon.

Police searched his home overnight and a motive for the shooting remains unknown.

Gwinn-Villaroel said that officers’ body camera video from shooting will be released.

The chief said that a rookie officer who was shot in the head while responding to the mass shooting remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday morning.

“It’s looking hopeful,” Gwinn-Villaroel told WDRB-TV about Officer Nickolas Wilt, who had graduated from training just 10 days earlier.

She said Wilt and other officers “unflinchingly” engaged the shooter at Old National Bank and stopped him from killing more people.

Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside the building and killed the shooter, Gwinn-Villaroel said.

“The act of heroism can’t be overstated on yesterday. They did what they were called to do. They answered that call to protect and serve,” she said.

Four of the injured remained hospitalized Tuesday — one in critical condition and three in stable but fair condition, University of Louisville Hospital said in a statement.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends in the shooting.

“Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad,” said Beshear, his voice shaking with emotion. “He’s one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend.”

Also killed in the shooting were Josh Barrick, Jim Tutt, Juliana Farmer and Deana Eckert, police said.

“There are no words to adequately describe the sadness and devastation that our Old National family is experiencing as we grieve the tragic loss of our team members and pray for the recovery of all those who were injured,” Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan said in a statement.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told WDRB-TV that his focus moving forward would be on trying to unify residents in the city.

“We can’t let the targeted acts of evil violence that we saw yesterday in our city deter us from continuing on the path to make our city the vibrant, safe, strong healthy city that we all know it can be and all want it to be,” he said.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)