The 25-year-old former bank analyst who shot and killed four of his colleagues after losing his job was a star athlete in high school, but suffered multiple concussions, a friend has claimed.
Connor Sturgeon was killed by police in Louisville after storming Old National Bank on Monday.
Armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, he burst into the morning conference at 8:30am – before the bank was open to the public – and killed Tommy Elliott, 63; Joshua Barrick, 40; James ‘Jim’ Tutt, 64; and Juliana Farmer, 57.
Sturgeon reportedly live-streamed the attack on Instagram, left a suicide note for his parents and posted memes announcing the imminent attack.
A high school friend said Sturgeon was a star athlete in Indiana, where he excelled at track, football and basketball at his school just across the Ohio river from Louisville.
But he suffered multiple concussions and wore a head guard.
Connor Sturgeon, 25, is seen in action representing Floyd Central high school in Floyd Knobs, Indiana – 10 miles from downtown Louisville
Sturgeon was a star of the track, as well as being a talented football player and basketballer
Sturgeon was at high school in Indiana, just across the Ohio river
‘The big thing I keep going back to is that in the first year of high school, we played football together in eighth grade, he was out most of the year because he had multiple concussions,’ the friend told The Daily Beast.
‘Then he had a couple more in high school.
‘I’m not saying it’s the cause but I always think back to that.
‘There were times I’d wonder, will this catch up with him? But never in this way. He’s the last person I’d expect would do this.’
The friend said that Sturgeon was popular and high flying, and was nicknamed ‘Mr Floyd Central’.
His father Todd Sturgeon was Floyd Central’s head basketball coach until last year.
He previously coached the University of Indianapolis’ men’s basketball team for 10 seasons, but left in 2007 after watching his son at a basketball camp and realizing ‘maybe he’d rather have more time to spend with his own sons than other people’s.’
Sturgeon’s brother is a professional model.
‘I know everyone always says this about shooters but I truly would have never expected it to be him,’ the friend said.
Sturgeon suffered multiple concussions, his high school friend said, and at times was unable to compete due to his head injuries
Sturgeon is seen with a track and field award in 2016
After graduating from Floyd Central in 2016, Sturgeon went to the University of Alabama and graduated in 2020, the university confirmed.
In a 2018 essay for the university, unearthed by The Daily Beast, Sturgeon wrote about his quest to improve his ‘discipline, responsibility, and self-esteem… so that I can improve myself as a whole.’
Sturgeon said he struggled to make friends – despite his friends seeing him as popular and a star athlete.
‘My self-esteem has long been a problem for me,’ he wrote.
‘As a late bloomer in middle and high school, I struggled to a certain extent to fit in, and this has given me a somewhat negative self-image that persists today.
‘Making friends has never been especially easy, so I have more experience than most in operating alone.
‘Furthermore, college has introduced a whole new atmosphere and new challenges, so it is easy to feel like I am not doing as well as I should be.
‘This semester, however, I think I have begun to mature socially and am beginning to see improvement in this area.
‘I have found that taking time out to take stock of how I feel and what I can do to feel better has helped me be more social and in turn feel better about myself.’
Sturgeon worked at Old National Bank (pictured on Monday), but had been told he was being fired
Police are seen on the scene of Monday’s shooting in Louisville
A police officer stands outside the Sturgeon family home in Louisville
Sturgeon’s LinkedIn said he completed three summer internships between 2018-2020, before starting work at Old National Bank as a syndications associate and portfolio banker.
‘I am certified in the RMA Lending Decision Process, hold a Master’s in Finance from the University of Alabama, and am on the Young Professionals board for Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana,’ he wrote on his profile.
He also hosted a basketball-focused podcast with two friends, The Daily Beast said, and tweeted about the NBA.
He also posted shows of support for the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, as well as criticism of police violence and of Donald Trump.
