Louisville shooter’s mother called 911 during shooting, wanted to drive to scene
As a deadly mass shooting unfolded Monday in downtown Louisville’s Old National Bank, the shooter’s mother called 911 to report that her son may have had a gun and was heading to the location, newly released 911 audio from Louisville Metro Police revealed Wednesday.
According to the woman, whom police identified Wednesday only as the mother of the gunman, her son “left a note” and was continuing to communicate with her as she called 911 and rushed to the scene.
“He’s never hurt anyone. He’s a really good kid,” the shooter’s mother told the dispatcher on the call.
She told the dispatcher she’d been alerted to the situation by her son’s roommate.
Calls to 911 from people inside and around the Old National Bank building provided new details about how the shooting unfolded and the events that immediately followed. Multiple witnesses called to report the shooting as police and EMS workers coordinated their response.
“I don’t know where he would’ve gotten a gun. He’s a really good kid,” the shooter’s mother said, adding her son was “non-violent.”
She told the dispatcher she was preparing to drive to the scene and was “shaking.”
The dispatcher on the 911 call who urged her not to go to the active crime scene.
“I don’t want you to go to the location,” the dispatcher said and repeated at least two more times.
“We have a situation that’s going on down there,” the 911 dispatcher told the shooter’s mother, adding 911 had already had several calls come in about the shooting.
The mother can then be heard in the call saying: “You have had calls from other people, so he’s already there?”
On Tuesday, Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) said the shooter left a note and sent at least one text message to a family member that he was feeling suicidal and contemplating harm before the shooting took place. LMPD Chief Gwinn-Villaroel did not confirm any details about a note being left following McGarvey’s remarks.
The gunman’s family acknowledged that he had mental health issues, but they never saw any warning signs to indicate he would attack the bank, according to a report from the Louisville Courier-Journal and other outlets.
“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,” the family said in a statement to WDRB and multiple Louisville media outlets.
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 3:45 PM.
