Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said he was the one to call his friend's family to let them know about his death in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville.
A 25-year-old gunman opened fire at the Old National Bank on Monday morning, killing five people and injuring eight others while live streaming the attack. The shooter, identified as bank employee Connor Sturgeon, entered the bank at around 8.30am armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
He went on a shooting rampage inside the first-floor conference room before exchanging gunfire with responding police officers. The gunman was eventually shot dead by the police.
Governor Beshear described he went to the bank "immediately" after learning about the mass shooting while he was in the governor's office in Frankfort. He said the shooting took place at the bank where his friends worked and where he was a customer.
The governor was the one to call his friend Thomas "Tommy" Elliott's wife to inform her about her husband's death.
“She deserved to know,” Mr Beshear told CNN in an emotional interview.
“I knew it would be hours before others could call her. And I thought she deserved to know, and we’re close right now to where I made that call,” he said.
Mr Beshear continued: “I’ve been governor during this pandemic, I’ve been governor during tornadoes and floods and -45 degree windchills and everything else. And we’ve lost a lot of people during those.
"But calling your friend’s wife who is also your friend to tell her that her husband is gone is among the hardest things I’ve ever done."
Elliott, 63, was a senior vice president of commercial real estate at Old National Bank. The governor previously said that Elliott was one of his closest friends and "helped me ... to become governor".
Mr Beshear said he wanted his friend to be remembered as a loving father and husband. “Man, he had a great smile. His eyes lit up. Loved life. Was always into something. Trying to make the city a better place, he was just always into something,” he said.
“He was trying to plan for me for when I’m done being governor, which was something that I hoped we could eventually plan for together
“An amazing human being, a loving dad.”
When asked about the 911 call placed by the gunman's mother, Mr Beshear said: "This person murdered my friend. But still, I can’t imagine what his parents must be feeling right now."
The mother of the gunman called 911 saying that her son “currently has a gun and is heading toward” the Old National Bank in the city’s downtown.
“I need your help. He’s never hurt anyone, he’s a good kid,” the woman pleaded.
