Louisville police have released chilling body camera footage of the moment that shows officers arriving, being ambushed and then shooting dead 25-year-old suspected shooter Connor Sturgeon on Monday at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Sturgeon entered the Kentucky bank where he was employed on Monday at around 8:30 a.m.
He can be seen in the footage with a legally-purchased AR-15 in his hand with which he murdered five colleagues and injured nine others before being shot dead by the responding officers. This comes as it was revealed on Tuesday by his family members that Sturgeon had mental health problems but there were no warning signs.
Bullets and Blood
The chilling bodycam footage released by the Louisville Metro Police Department shows Sturgeon entering the Old National Bank on East Main Street at 8.33 am with his legally-purchased AR-15 in hand.
Sturgeon started his rampage on the first floor of the bank. Over the span of six minutes, the bodycam footage shows cops pulling up to Old National Bank while bullets reverberate through the building, and then charging at the doors.
The footage begins with cops responding to the scene. Officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, is seen driving to the site at 8:40 in the morning, on his tenth day on duty.
His training officer, Officer Cory "CJ" Galloway, is sitting in the backseat.
Wilt is driving at speed toward the scene. Galloway asks him to pull up outside the bank but orders him to turn around after hearing a barrage of gunshots so they are protected by a wall.
"Back up, back up, back up!" Galloway yells, then tells Wilt: "Pop the trunk."
The two officers exit the police vehicle and rush to the trunk. Galloway brings a long rifle, while Wilt is armed with a handgun.
Galloway leads the way, and the two pause behind a wall to assess the situation. At 8:41 am, Galloway begins to ascend the stairs.
Galloway radios to headquarters: "We are making entry to the east side."
Wilt is seen standing behind him. Then his camera stops. Wilt was shot in the head and had brain surgery on Monday night. His situation is still critical.
Galloway's body camera keeps recording as he hears gunshots, turns around, and sees Wilt on the bank steps.
Chilling Final Moments
Galloway stumbles to the ground, appears to roll, and then scampers down the stairs behind a wall. A bystander across the street records the attack and Galloway's fall.
"God damn it!" Galway yells in pain. Sirens can be heard, signaling the arrival of more emergency personnel.
Galloway replies, " The shooter has an angle on that officer, we need to get up there."
"We need to get up there. I don't know where he is, the glass is blocking him."
Galloway looks for Sturgeon, trying to get a clear view of him by peering under a shrub. Soon, a second cop approaches Galloway from behind. Galloway informs him that the shooter is aiming directly at the officer through these windows.
Galloway says they "need to plate somehow, to be able to get there and pull him down off those stairs" - an apparent reference to donning body armor.
Another round of gunfire is soon heard. At 8:44 am, Galloway shouts: "I think I got him down. I think he's down! Suspect down, get the officer."
"Suspect down, get the officer," he then commands as he ascends the stairs. Sturgeon is slumped on the floor with his left hand across his stomach and his weapon resting next to him when Galloway enters the bank through the shards of glass on the floor.
Police then gave their final approval that the building was secure at 8:45 a.m., around 15 minutes after the bloodshed started.
LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said that newly sworn-in officer Wilt, who had just been on the force for a week, approached the situation and behaved in accordance with his "training and his character." Even though he was being shot at, he did not hesitate.
"This young man went back in to the line of fire in order to protect others, and you're going to see that and how he made his decisions and how they ultimately protected other people's lives."
Louisville police have yet not identified who actually shot dead Sturgeon. Five people were killed in the shooting, who have been identified as Tommy Elliott, 63; Jim Tutt, 64; Joshua Barrick, 40; Juliana Farmer, 45; and Deanna Eckert, 57.
Sturgeon was reportedly suicidal and could be seen waiting for the cops to arrive in a livestream of the attack on Instagram.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials said during a news conference that no additional people were shot after police arrived at the scene at around 8.41 am on Monday.
The entire incident was livestreamed by the shooter on Instagram.
