LOUISVILLE, Ky. — WARNING: The audio below contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Louisville Metro Police have released the 911 calls they received the day of the mass shooting on Monday, April 10.
Bank employee Connor Sturgeon, 25 , opened fire inside the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville killing five and injuring several others.
The audio recordings released include a woman who was on a video call and saw the shooter, a couple people inside the bank, and the gunman's own mother.
None of the callers are identified by name and other information is edited out of the calls, but the first call that came in was from a woman who was on a video call inside the bank. She screams and cries throughout the four-minute call and says there is an active shooter at the downtown branch of the bank.
“I just watched it on a Teams meeting," she says. "We were having a board meeting. With our commercial (lending) team.”
“We heard multiple shots and everybody started saying, ’Oh my God and then he came into the board room.”
WARNING: The two-part audio below contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
The woman identifying herself as Sturgeon’s mother asks during the call if she can go to the bank but is told by the dispatcher that she should not because “there’s a situation going on down there” and “it’s dangerous.”
“I don’t know what to do, I need your help. He’s never hurt anyone, he’s a really good kid,” Sturgeon’s mother told dispatchers. “I don’t know anything, he doesn’t even own a gun — I don’t know where he would have gotten anything.”
She said her son’s roommate called her and told her they were really concerned.
After the first call, others began streaming in. One of the callers says she’s calling from within the building as numerous gunshots are heard in the background.
“I’m in a closet hiding,” the caller says. She says that people have been shot and gives a description of the shooting, saying she knows the shooter. “He works with us.”
“How long will it be before they get here?” she whispers and the dispatcher tells her that authorities are on the way and advises her to keep quiet.
Asked what kind of injuries there were, the caller replies: “I don’t know. I just saw a lot of blood.”
Wednesday’s release included a half-hour of emergency responder radio traffic.
“Transparency is important – even more so in times of crisis. Today, we are releasing the 911 calls from Monday’s mass shooting," Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "Parts of the audio have been redacted to protect the privacy of those involved and the integrity of any ongoing investigation."
The five bank employees killed in the shooting were Joshua Barrick, 40, a senior vice president; Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer; Tommy Elliott, 63, also a senior vice president; Juliana Farmer, 45, a loan analyst; and Jim Tutt Jr., 64, a commercial real estate market executive.
Additionally, Louisville Metro Government’s Office of Safe and Health Neighborhoods (OSHN) is making grief counselors available to anyone who would like to talk to someone. For the full list of locations, please click here.
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