The Louisville bank shooter will be tested posthumously for signs of degenerative brain disease after it was revealed that he suffered concussions as a high school football player and struggled with mental health issues.
Connor Sturgeon’s father, Todd, told WLKY this week that the late mass killer will be tested for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain deterioration caused by repeated head trauma.
The 25-year-old — who killed five co-workers and wounded eight other people at the Old National Bank — wore a helmet while playing basketball due to his football concussions.
Experts have made multiple links between football players and CTE, whose sufferers usually experience impaired thinking and are prone to aggression, mood swings, depression and paranoia, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
On Monday, Sturgeon’s parents acknowledged that he had been struggling with mental health issues.
Peter Palmer, an Indiana-based lawyer who is friends with Todd, told NBC News that Connor had been seeing a counselor for depression and anxiety.
Louisville bank shooter Connor Sturgeon’s brain will be tested for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, a deterioration caused by repeated head trauma, his father said.Facebook/Lisa Sturgeon
A classmate said Connor Sturgeon suffered so many concussions, he wore a helmet on the basketball court.Courier Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK
“His family was working with him and through it,” he told the network on Thursday. “That’s about the extent of what they’re comfortable sharing at this point.”
Palmer, who is not representing the family but is a spokesperson, said he did not know how long Sturgeon had been seeking treatment and what medication he may have been on.
Sturgeon reportedly left a voicemail for a friend saying he felt “suicidal” and planned to “kill everyone at the bank.”
Sturgeon reportedly left a voicemail for a friend saying he planned to kill everyone in the building.
Killed in the rampage were Tommy Elliott, 63, a senior vice president; Jim Tutt, 64, a market executive; Joshua Barrick, 40, another senior vice president; Juliana Farmer, 45, a commercial loan specialist; and Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer.
Rookie officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, was listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery for a brain injury. Fellow cop Cory Galloway was grazed in the shoulder in the fatal shootout
