The 23-year-old bank employee who shot and killed five co-workers and wounded nine others at the Old National Bank branch where he worked on Monday had legally purchased the assault rifle he used in the attack, Louisville’s police chief told reporters today. , Jacqueline Gwynn-Villaroel. The gun had been purchased from a store on April 4, he said.

The gunman was fatally wounded by gunfire, police said, without specifying whether he took his own life or was killed by police fire.

23-year-old Conor Sturgeon was an employee of the bank and, according to unconfirmed reports from CNN, had just been told he was going to be fired.

Police rushed to the bank minutes after the call center received the first calls about shots fired, around 08:30 (local time, 15:30 Greek time). The police opened fire on the attacker, who was broadcasting live images of the attack online.

Joshua Barrick (40), Diana Eckert (57), Thomas Elliott (63), Julianna Farmer (45) and James Tatt (64) were killed in the shooting by the 23-year-old.

Of the nine injured, three are hospitalized in critical condition. Among them is a 26-year-old police officer who was shot in the head and underwent surgery. Another policeman is hospitalized with minor injuries.

According to the Facebook account maintained by the attacker’s mother, Connor Sturgeon grew up in Southern Indiana, north of Louisville. The oldest of her three sons, he attended Floyd Central High School, where he was a track and field athlete and played on the basketball team coached by his father, Todd. In 2016 he began his studies at the University of Alabama.

Gun violence is a scourge in the US, where since the beginning of the year there have been 146 “mass shootings” (a term used by US authorities for attacks with firearms that result in four or more victims), according to the specialized website Gun Violence Archive. This number is the highest recorded (at this time of year) since 2016.