OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:09 PM – Wednesday, November 22, 2023
According to a police report released on Tuesday that included excerpts from the shooter’s journal, the man who killed five people at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, in April was driven by his anger over the country’s “careless” gun laws and believed that a “bloody rampage” of White victims would prompt politicians into action.
When Connor Sturgeon, 25, revealed in his journal that he was having mental health problems and was greatly dissatisfied with his employment and the path that his life was headed, he opened fire on his coworkers inside a conference room at the Old National Bank on East Main Street on April 10th.
During the incident, eight more people were injured, including a responding officer who was critically wounded after being hit in the head. In almost eight minutes, Sturgeon fired over forty shots, according to the report.
“I have decided to make an impact. These people did not deserve to die, but because I was depressed and able to buy [guns], they are gone,” Sturgeon wrote on April 4th in his journal, according to the report released by the Louisville Police Department.
“Perhaps this is the impact for change – upper class White people dying. I certainly would not have been able to do this were it more difficult to get a gun,” he continued.
According to a receipt in the police report, he made the $500 purchase of the AR-15 firearm used in the fatal shooting six days after making the journal entry on April 4th. In a 45-minute transaction, he also purchased four rifle magazines and 120 shots.
While admitting that he had immense mental health issues, Sturgeon expressed amazement at “how easy” it was for him to buy and take home the firearm.
“OH MY GO THIS IS SO EASY,” he wrote in one journal entry. “I knew it would be doable but this is ridiculous.”
In his journal, the 25-year-old assailant continued to criticize pro-Second Amendment legislators, writing that he wanted his violent actions to galvanize them so that lawmakers would be prompted to alter gun laws.
“I know our politicians are solely focused on lining their own pockets, but maybe this will knock some sense into them. If not, good luck,” Sturgeon said. “A level of corruption that stands directly between us and progress,” he continued.
According to the report, he also wrote, “They won’t listen to words or protests, so let’s see if they hear this,” in his iPhone Notes app.
Additionally, some of his most recent phone notes made it clear that Sturgeon saved his most harsh criticisms for the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“But let us not forget the most important player here,” he wrote on April 9th. “The one who made all this possible. [Let’s] give it up for the NRA!!”
“I couldn’t have done this without all of your lobbying dollars! You really brought this whole thing together. This is the world you are building. One without any regard for the value of human life,” Sturgeon added.
According to the Washington Post, Sturgeon had no trouble obtaining a gun in Kentucky since he had no prior criminal record and would have been able to pass the background check mandated by the federal government.
The state lacks “red flag” legislation, which forbids the purchase and ownership of firearms by anyone believed to be dangerous.
However, given that Sturgeon had not informed authorities or health officials of his mental health issues, it is also possible that the legislation would still not have stopped him from purchasing the weapon.
According to Sturgeon’s parents, the couple’s main concern now revolves around their desire to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the assault gun, blaming the weapon as opposed to blaming their son’s mental health issues that went ignored and unreported, as well as his extremist far-left political ideals.
The five individuals who perished in the shooting were: Jim Tutt Jr., 64, an executive in the commercial real estate market, Thomas Elliott, 63, a senior vice president, Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer, and Joshua Barrick, 40, a senior vice president, and Juliana Farmer, 45, a loan analyst.
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