GRIEVING

Louisville Gunman’s Parents Say They ‘Failed Him’ in Emotional Interview

“Connor in his darkest hour needed us to be exceptional.”

The parents of 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon say they are devastated and grieving after their son stormed the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month and started shooting. “It would have been bad enough if we had just lost our son,” Lisa Sturgeon told the Today show’s Savannah Guthrie. “But for him to take others with us—with him—it’s just — it’s beyond what we’ve taught him, the way we live. We’re always saying do no harm. He didn’t do that.” Connor Sturgeon, who his family said was struggling with mental health issues, killed five and injured eight with an AR-15-style weapon he purchased legally just days before. His parents say he “absolutely” should not have been able to do that. “I think the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t want people in an impaired state to have a weapon in their hand,” Todd Sturgeon said. In the end, the Sturgeons told Guthrie that they feel ultimately at fault. “Well-meaning people keep saying to us, ‘You know, you did what any reasonable parents would have done.’ But Connor in his darkest hour needed us to be exceptional, not reasonable—and we failed him,” Todd Sturgeon said. “We failed those people,” Lisa Sturgeon added.