"No words can express our sorrow, anguish and horror at the unthinkable harm our son Connor inflicted," the parents said in a statement. "We are deeply grateful for the bravery and heroism of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department."
The parents of the shooter in the Louisville, Kentucky, bank massacre are praising the police officer who took down their son before he killed more victims.
"No words can express our sorrow, anguish and horror at the unthinkable harm our son Connor inflicted," the parents of Connor Sturgeon said in a statement. "We are deeply grateful for the bravery and heroism of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department."
They said their son was struggling with mental health.
"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," they went on to say.
Police released the 911 calls from the scene of the shooting, including one from an employee hiding in a closet as the gunman roamed First National Bank. The shooter's mother also called 911, and the anguish in her voice was apparent.
"I'm so sorry, I'm getting details second-hand," Lisa Sturgeon tells the operator. "I don't know what to do, I need your help. He's never hurt anyone. He's a really good kid."
She then adds: "We don't even own guns. I don't know where he would have gotten a gun."
When asked where she was getting this information from, Lisa Sturgeon says: "His roommate told me."
She then asks: "What do I do? Just go there?"
The operator firmly tells her she should not go to the scene, and says: "It's dangerous there."
There is a sudden shift in Lisa Sturgeon's voice that suggests she had been hoping her call would have been able to stop her son, as she asks: "You've had calls from other people? So he's already there?"
The operator replies: "Yes."
Police later raided the house where Sturgeon was living with his roommate just five miles from the bank. That roommate was college friend Dallas Whelan, who bought the modest two-bedroom home for $203,000.
Experts are still pouring over the dramatic police body cam footage released on Tuesday. The footage shows Officer Cory Galloway being grazed in the shoulder by a bullet and falling back as the shooter took what police later called ambush position inside the bank.
At the time, he was training rookie Officer Nickolas Wilt, who was shot in the head. Wilt had been on the force for only 10 days when he was shot. He remains in critical but stable condition.
Police say Sturgeon could see out of the tinted windows but the officers could not see in.
Despite being grazed by a bullet, Galloway got up and entered the building, where he eventually took down the gunman.
Sturgeon's parents said they are grateful that the officer put an end to their son's rampage.
"We pray for everyone traumatized by his senseless acts of violence," they said.
