MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Deana Eckert: Fifth Louisville mass shooting victim, 57, dies in hospital after multiple surgeries

Deana Eckert was an executive administrative officer at the Old National Bank where the deadly shooting took place

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: The fifth victim, shot at the Old National Bank by Connor Sturgeon, 23, tragically died after spending more than 12 hours at the hospital undergoing multiple surgeries. The victim has been identified as Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer at the bank. The deadly shooting took place on Monday, April 10, at around 8.30 am.

The police responded within three minutes after the attack took place and shot gunman Sturgeon during an exchange of gunfire. Paul Humphrey, the deputy chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department, said when they arrived on the scene, “they encountered the suspect almost immediately, still firing gunshots.” And added, "We believe this is a lone gunman involved in this that did have a connection to the bank," reports The New York Times. It was then revealed that Sturgeon worked as a summer intern for the Old National Bank for three consecutive years. Then he accepted a full-time position in June 2021 as a commercial development professional 2021 and was listed as a portfolio banker since 2022 for the same bank.

RELATED ARTICLES

Louisville mass shooting: Four dead, eight injured including police officer inside Old National Bank

Connor Sturgeon: Louisville bank mass shooter who killed 4 and injured 8 identified as ex-employee

Who was Deana Eckert?

Deana was a mother-of-two, who was among the five victims killed in the mass shooting. She was associated with the bank for over six years where she worked as a retail center manager and then got promoted to the executive administrative officer. Prior to this, she was the vice president of operations and HR at Alliance Bank from 2014 to 2016, as per her LinkedIn profile.

Who were the other victims?

The other four Old National Bank victims included 40-year-old senior vice president of commercial real estate Josh Barrick, 63-year-old senior vice president Tommy Elliott, 64-year-old market executive Jim Tutt, and 45-year-old commercial banking agent Juliana Farmer.

Commenting on the tragedy, Jim Ryan, the CEO of the bank, said on the evening of April 10, "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. Obviously, this is an incredibly difficult situation, and our entire focus is on making sure that everyone affected has the support and assistance they need," as per DailyMail. He further added, "On behalf of everyone at Old National, I also want to acknowledge and thank Louisville law enforcement, the medical community and state and local officials for their incredible response to this tragedy. And finally, we ask you to please continue to pray for all those affected."