Connor Sturgeon: Louisville mass shooter was high school star athlete who wore helmet at games after multiple concussions
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: Louisville bank shooter was a star athlete in high school and allegedly suffered so many concussions that he had to wear a helmet at basketball games. Connor Sturgeon, a former employee at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky's downtown, stormed inside the bank and opened fire on Monday, April 10, 2023, killing five people and injuring several others.
The 25-year-old former bank analyst shot dead Tommy Elliott, 63, and Joshua Barrick, 40, both senior vice presidents; Jim Tutt, 64, a market executive; Juliana Farmer, 45, a commercial loan specialist; and Deanna Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer. Apparently, the rampage was being live-streamed on Instagram by Sturgeon, who was later shot dead by the police.
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Connor Sturgeon was an all-around athlete
Sturgeon was a freshman at the Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, and an all-around athlete, playing basketball, football, and running track, said his friend. His father Todd Sturgeon was Floyd Central's head basketball coach until 2022. "The big thing I keep going back to is that in the first year of high school, we played football together in eighth grade, he was out most of the year because he had multiple concussions," the friend told The Daily Beast.
'He's the last person I'd expect would do this!'
"Then he had a couple more in high school," the friend added. The multiple concussions caused Sturgeon, who was famously known as "Mr Floyd Central", to wear a helmet while playing basketball. "'There were times I'd wonder, will this catch up with him? But never in this way. He's the last person I'd expect would do this."
The classmate linked his injuries to other incidents where athletes who have suffered concussions grow aggressive causing them to harm themselves or others. Over time, doctors have linked football players and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy [CTE], a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head leading to impaired thinking and memory and are prone to aggression, mood swings, depression, and paranoia, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
During the athlete's senior year, he won the 2016 News and Tribune Sports Performance Yearly Award for Boys Track Athlete of the Year. After graduating, Sturgeon went on to the University of Alabama to study finance, earning his master of science in finance in 2020. At the time, he worked as a summer intern for the Old National Bank for three consecutive years and eventually landed as a commercial development professional in 2021 and a full-time associate and portfolio banker in 2022, according to his LinkedIn account.
"I am certified in the RMA Lending Decision Process, hold a Master's in Finance from the University of Alabama, and am on the Young Professionals Board for Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana," read his profile. He is believed to have carried out the deadly mass shooting in rage after learning he was about to be fired from the bank, according to CNN. He allegedly left a note for his parents and a friend, explaining his intention to commit the massacre.