Month: April 2023

Officials said on Tuesday that the gunman who killed five co-workers at a Louisville bank on Monday had legally purchased the high-powered rifle used in the mass shooting less than a week ago. Interim Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters that the gunman, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, bought the AR-15-style weapon from an authorized seller: “We have also learned that he purchased the weapon used in this tragic incident yesterday on April 4. He purchased the weapon legally from one of the local dealerships here in Louisville.”

Louisville Rep. Morgan McGarvey also revealed that the shooter had sent disturbing text messages signaling he was considering harming himself before Monday’s shooting: “We know he left a note, we know he texted or called at least one person to let them know that he was suicidal and contemplating harm. But we don’t have the tools on the books to deal with someone who is an imminent danger to themselves or to others.”

Louisville police also made public the police body camera footage on Tuesday, showing how officers confronted Sturgeon on Monday morning at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville. Two officers, Cory Galloway and Nickolas Wilt, were shot by Sturgeon. Galloway was grazed on his left side, while Wilt was shot in the head. The 26-year-old Wilt underwent surgery Monday and was listed in critical condition; he was a recent academy graduate and on only his fourth shift when he rushed toward the bank alongside his Galloway, his field training officer. Police confirmed that Galloway was the officer who killed Sturgeon.  Police Chief Gwinn-Villaroel said: “I am just truly proud of the heroic actions of those two officers. “They went toward danger in order to save and preserve life and that’s what you saw yesterday. They stopped the threat so other lives could be saved. No hesitation and they did what they were called to do.”

Among the victims were Deana Eckert, 57, was rushed to the hospital following the shooting barrage and died Monday night. Four others — Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64 — died earlier in the day. Jefferson County Coroner’s Office records revealed Tuesday that all five were victims of “multiple gunshot wounds” with homicide listed as the cause of death.

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On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a lawsuit against Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, asking a court to block elements of the congressional inquiry into his case against former President Donald Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty last week to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his role in hush money payments made toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Bragg called the GOP’s inquiry an “unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack” of an ongoing investigation, and said in the suit that allowing Jordan’s demands would cause “imminent irreparable harm if the secret and privileged material is compelled to be disclosed.” Bragg’s suit asked the court to block Jordan’s subpoena of former Assistant DA Mark Pomerantz. Jordan has requested that Pomerantz to sit for a deposition as part of the Judiciary panel’s investigation into the indictment of Trump.

Bragg said in a statement Tuesday: “Chairman Jordan’s subpoena is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation. As our complaint details, this is an unprecedented, illegitimate interference by Congress that lacks any legal merit and defies basic principles of federalism.”  The lawsuit from Bragg is the culmination of an ongoing dispute between Bragg and Jordan, who issued the subpoena to Pomerantz two days after former President Trump was charged with 34 felony counts. Bragg said that Jordan was attempting to “undermine” the criminal case against Trump by seeking Pomerantz’s testimony.

In response, Jordan tweeted that the lawsuit attempts to block congressional oversight: “First, they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it.”

A federal judge in New York has scheduled an April 19 hearing for Bragg’s lawsuit.

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