The family of a man who killed five people at a Louisville bank this month is working to destroy the AR-15 rifle he used, despite a Kentucky state law that sends firearms confiscated by law enforcement to auction and uses the proceeds to buy law enforcement equipment .
“The Sturgeon family was aghast to learn Kentucky law mandated the assault rifle used in the horrific event last week be sold to the highest bidder at public auction,” a family statement said.
It was reported, henceforth, that the gunman, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, left two notes before he went to the Old National Bank and opened fire.
According to CNN, citing two law enforcement sources, “the notes reveal that part of the shooter’s goal was to show how easy it was in America for someone dealing with a serious mental illness to buy an assault-style weapon”.
The family did not comment on the CNN report.
After the shooting, he told a CNN affiliate, WDRB: “While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health challenges which we, as a family, were actively addressing, there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act.”
Sturgeon was fatally shot by a police officer.
In their statement on the Kentucky gun law, the Sturgeon family, who lives in Indiana, said: “This tragedy is yet another meaningful indication, commonsense gun safety measures must be enacted.
“We respectfully urge the Kentucky state legislature to lead the way by changing the Kentucky law to remove the gun auction provision.”
The family said they were working “vigorously” to see the rifle destroyed. They said the first step in that process occurred on Monday, when federal agents took possession of the rifle.
Usually, confiscated guns are bought at auctions by federally licensed gun dealers. An auction held last year totaled nearly $174,000, according to Kentucky state police.
But the Louisville mayor, Craig Greenberg, made headlines after the bank shooting when he said the “murder weapon will be back on the streets one day under Kentucky’s current law”.
Greenberg was shot at himself during his campaign last year. Critical of the law, he has sought workarounds that would render crime weapons unusable after they are confiscated by the police.
One of the victims of the shooting, 63-year-old Tommy Elliott, was a friend of Greenberg and the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear.
Eight people were injured, including a rookie police officer shot in the head. Nick Wilt remained in critical condition this week, battling pneumonia. Seven others who were hospitalized have been released.