Louisville bank shooter shot his mentor who played dead to survive during horrific massacre

The Louisville bank shooter’s former mentor has revealed she played dead after he shot her to survive the massacre of her five colleagues with a ‘gun he got from his girlfriend.’

Dana Mitchell, who has since been released from the hospital, was in the conference room when Connor Sturgeon, 25, stormed in and began firing with an AR-15.

Sturgeon’s mother called 911 Monday morning to warn cops that her son had armed himself with a gun she believed he must have taken from his girlfriend.

But by the time she made the call he had already started his shooting spree at the Old National Bank.

Mitchell, who mentored the young graduate in his first year at the firm, was struck in the back. She lay on the ground, trying not to breathe or move as carnage unfolded around her.

‘The bullet went in and out just below the surface,’ she told CBS News. ‘It was high enough up that it ripped the skin open. It was a wound about 10 inches long. But didn’t hit anything important.’ 

‘The bullet went in and out just below the surface,’ she recounted. ‘It was high enough up that it ripped the skin open. It was a wound about 10 inches long. But didn’t hit anything important’

Mitchell had mentored the gunman in his first year and said he ‘never made me feel like he would have done this.’ She remembered him a ‘very kind and soft-spoken.’ She said: ‘You would never had thought this would have happened’ 

In order to survive, she played dead and hoped her former mentee wouldn’t shoot her again. 

‘I tried not to breathe a lot. I didn’t want to move around. I didn’t want him to see me moving or hear me breathing, because I thought he might shoot me again,’ she said. 

‘I never imagined this would happen at my place of work or to me. You see it on TV and it happens to other people but it doesn’t happen to people you know. But this is one of those things.’ 

Sturgeon left the conference room and continued to shoot. Throughout his massacre, he would kill Joshua Barrick, 40; James Tutt, 64; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and Deana Eckert, 57. 

He then shot officer Nickolas Wilt in the head while exchanging gunfire with authorities. The cop, who only graduated from the force ten days before, remains in critical condition. 

Sturgeon’s mother Lisa had earlier called 911 as she frantically tried to avert the tragedy. ‘He’s never hurt anyone; he’s a really good kid. Please don’t punish him… He’s non violent; he’s never done anything wrong,’ she told the dispatcher. 

But by the time she made the call, a number of people at the scene had already phoned in to alert police to the shooting, which by that point was underway. 

Lisa was told by the operator that they had received multiple 911 calls. ‘So he’s already there?’ Sturgeon’s mother asked, adding: ‘I’m sorry, I’m trying to get to my car… I’m shaking.’ 

During the call, Lisa speculated that her son may have gotten his gun from his girlfriend. ‘I don’t know where he would have gotten a gun. He must’ve gotten it from his girlfriend or something.’

Authorities believe that Sturgeon legally purchased an AR-15 on April 4 from a local dealer and could be seen wielding the weapon in his livestream on Instagram as he entered his former workplace at around 8.30am.

Mitchell was shocked to see her former mentee carry out the attack, saying that while she mentored him throughout his first year, he ‘never made me feel like he would have done this.’ 

‘Not in a million years,’ she told CBS News. ‘He was very kind and soft-spoken. You would never had thought this would have happened. 

Sturgeon (pictued) left the conference room at Old National Bank and continued to shoot. Throughout his massacre, he would kill Joshua Barrick, 40; James Tutt, 64; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and Deana Eckert, 57.

Sturgeon’s mother speculated that he got the gun (pictured) ‘from his girlfriend,’ but authorities believe he purchased the gun a week prior to the shooting 

‘When I saw him in the hallway with the gun I thought, why would he bring that here to show us? It didn’t even register to me he was ready to shoot. Everybody there but one person was in a conference room for a meeting.’ 

Mitchell recalled seeing him shoot the person in the hallway and said ‘everyone started running.’ 

‘But we had nowhere to run,’ she said. Seconds later, she would also be shot and told herself to just lay down on the ground and try to appear dead. 

As for the rumors that Sturgeon had retaliated for being fired from the bank, Mitchell said they aren’t true. ‘He was not terminated, he was still an employee,’ she told CBS News. ‘I don’t know where that rumor came from.’ 

Sturgeon’s mother called 911 at 8.41am, at the very same moment that police arrived at the scene to confront her son as he wielded the AR-15 rifle. 

Lisa was told by the operator that they had received multiple 911 calls. ‘So he’s already there?’ Sturgeon’s mother asked, adding: ‘I’m sorry, I’m trying to get to my car… I’m shaking.’

The operator then advised that she stay away from the scene of the shooting.

‘We have a situation that is going on down there right now, we’ve already had calls from other people and I do not need you to go to the location at this time okay, it’s dangerous there.’

Between shaky breaths, she told the operator she had heard from her son’s roommate that he had left a note indicating he had a gun and was heading toward the bank.

Thomas Elliott, 63, one of Governor Andy Beshear’s ‘closest’ friends, died Monday morning in the mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky

Joshua Barrick, 40, a vice president of commercial real estate at the bank, was also killed by the lone gunman

Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer at the bank, was declared dead on Monday evening 

‘He’s never hurt anyone, he’s a really good kid,’ Lisa said. ‘We don’t even own guns, I don’t know where he would have gotten a gun.’ 

The family of the gunman, in a statement released on Wednesday, said he had suffered from mental health issues that they had been ‘actively addressing’ before his rampage.

In the statement, released to a Louisville television station, the family said there were ‘never any warning signs or indications he was capable’ of carrying out a mass shooting.

Though the livestream of the attack at Old National Bank has not been released to the public, a city official who saw the footage described to CNN how Sturgeon told a woman near the entrance to run before he tried to shoot her.

But the gun was unloaded and the safety was still on at the time.

Quickly realizing his mistake, Sturgeon is then said to have loaded ammunition into the assault rifle and took off the safety. He then aimed at her again, and this time successfully shot the woman in the back. It is unclear if she survived.

The livestreamed footage of the attack is said to be in police custody as they continue their investigation into the massacre.

But the unnamed city official who viewed the footage said it shows a friendly colleague wishing Sturgeon a good morning as he entered the Old National Bank with his AR-15.

Mitchell has been released from the hospital, according to her son 

Mitchell (second left) said she thought Sturgeon had brought in the gun to show them, not shoot them. ‘When I saw him in the hallway with the gun I thought, why would he bring that here to show us? It didn’t even register to me he was ready to shoot. Everybody there but one person was in a conference room for a meeting’ 

‘You need to get out of here,’ the gunman reportedly tells the woman – before trying to shoot her in the back as she fled.

The attempt, though, failed because the weapon was still unloaded at the time with its safety on.

Once Sturgeon took the safety off and loaded the gun, the official said, he tried again and shot the staff member in the back. It is unclear if the woman survived.

The shooter then allegedly proceeded to spray fire inside the bank as frantic employees tried to to outrun him.

He did not travel to any of the other more populated floors in the building, which also houses a real estate firm, during the targeted attack.

There have been 146 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter.

Barely two weeks before the Louisville massacre, a former student at a private Christian school in Nashville shot and killed three 9-year-old students and three staff members. While mass shootings have become commonplace in the US.