A Louisville police officer has filed search warrants with Apple, Snapchat, AT&T and Google in the hope that investigators will find more information about why and how a 25-year-old man opened fire at his workplace and killed five people.
The warrants sought to obtain information and data from various online accounts of Connor Sturgeon that would not be stored on his phone, which investigators had already seized and searched, according to statements made in support of the warrants. Sturgeon was an employee of the Old National Bank when he entered the city center on April 10 and opened fire with an AR-15, according to earlier police statements.
Police say Sturgeon killed five bank employees and injured several others, including Louisville officer Nick Wilt, who remains in the hospital.
The affidavits were made on April 13. The warrants were signed by a Jefferson County judge and ordered to remain sealed for 30 days, indicating they became publicly available in the past week. The documents were delivered to Herald-Leader Thursday by the office of the clerk of the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
The Louisville Metro Police Department declined to respond to questions Friday morning about the information contained in the warrants, citing an open investigation.
“To protect and ensure the integrity of the investigation, we are unable to disclose details or provide further comment at this time,” the LMPD said in a statement. “We anticipate that we will release more information to the public once the investigation is complete.”
Warranty for Apple, Snap, others have searched for many records
Documents show that one of the officers was asked to search Apple accounts that were linked to Sturgeon’s email accounts. The search warrant authorized the officer to access phone records, messages, emails, iCloud files, call logs, location services information, videos, and other data or account information.
In addition, the warrant gave investigators access to “evidence indicative of the subscriber’s state of mind in relation to the crime under investigation,” according to the warrant.
The shooting was broadcast live, confirms the affidavit
In an affidavit, the officer confirmed that Sturgeon had been live-streaming the fatal shooting on Instagram while hiding his phone in his shirt pocket.
Police took Sturgeon’s phone after they shot him, according to an affidavit. After receiving a warrant to search the device, officers found messages and notes on the phone related to Sturgeon’s plans to commit a shootout.
Sturgeon’s family told the investigator that he had mental health issues and these issues may have played a role in his decision to commit the shooting, according to an affidavit.
The officer wrote in an affidavit that mental health concerns were backed up by “mental health texts” found on his phone and “other comments found in Connor’s memo or manifesto” that investigators found at his home.
A search warrant sent to Google required similar information. Investigators wanted access to Sturgeon’s account information, devices associated with his accounts, messages, calendars, documents, saved photos, location history, search history, and more.
In the warrant sent to Snapchat, investigators requested details of Sturgeon’s account, all account activity, profile information, any photos or videos on the account, location information, messages, any privacy settings applied, and more. Investigators also asked for any accounts that might have been linked to an account they knew about.
Investigators also asked AT&T for data associated with Sturgeon’s cell phone account, including his account information, call information, text information, location records, files, voice messages, emails, photos, contact lists, Internet activity, and additional data associated with his phone number.
The information and data collected by the police under the warrants has not been released.
Sturgeon’s family spoke out publicly the mental health problems he experienced before the shooting. They told NBC in a national interview that he had reported a panic attack days before the shooting.
Sturgeon’s brain was supposed to be screened for chronic traumatic encephalopathy after his death, according to a Louisville Courier-Journal report.